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ARISTOCRACY  IN  ENGLAND 


By  ADAM  BADEAU 

AUTUOR   OF    "military   HISTORY   OF   ULYSSES    S.  GRANT"   AND 

"conspiracy:  a  cuban  romance" 


NEW  YORK 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARE 

1886 


Copyright,  1885,  1886,  by  Adam  Badeau. 


All  rights  reserved. 


PA 
/// 


CONTENTS. 


No.  Page 

INTRODUCTION 5 

I.  The  Queen 7 

II.  At  Court 17 

III.  Rank  and  Titlk 29 

IV.  Primogeniture 42 

V.  Precedence 52 

VI.  The  Prince  of  Wales 61 

VII.  Americans  at  Court 71 

VIII.  The  Crown  in  Politics 83 

IX.  The  Personal  Character  of  the  Queen 94 

X.  Precedence  in  the  Servants'  Hall 103 

XI.  The  House  of  Lords 113 

XII.  The  Princess  of  Wales 125 

XIII.  American  MI^^STERS 135 

XIV.  Manners 146 

XV.  Caste 155 

XVI.  Illegitimacy 165 

XVII.  Servants  in  the  Country 173 

XVIII.  Servants  in  Town 183 

XIX.  A  Nobleman  Indeed 193 


4  CONTENTS. 

No.  Page 

XX.  Spiritual  Peers 201 

XXI.  The  Pomps  and  Vanities  of  the  Church 208 

XXII.  Church  and  State 214 

XXIII.  The  House  of  Commons 222 

XXIV.  The  Land 230 

XXV.  Entail 238 

XXVI.  Sport 246 

XXVII.  The  Accessions 256 

XXVIII.  Literature  ant)  the  Lords 264 

XXIX.  The  London  Season 272 

XXX.  Aristocratic  Influence 281 

Gladstone — The  Iconoclast 289 


I^TRODUCTIOK 

The  one  thing  which  more  than  any  other,  tor  an 
American,  distingnisheg  English  life  and  civilization 
from  his  own  is — Aristocracy.  Even  Europeans 
find  the  characteristics  of  the  British  people  more 
affected  by  caste  than  is  the  case  with  the  most 
enlightened  races  of  the  Continent,  while  the  exist- 
ence and  influence  of  the  institution  are  to  a  demo- 
crat, fresh  from  the  equality  and  uniformity  of 
social  and  political  life  in  the  New  World,  matter 
of  unceasing  marvel.  After  tw^elve  years  spent  in 
England,  the  spectacle  was  to  me  as  remarkable  as 
ever,  and  it  remains  my  deliberate  opinion  that  the 
relations  of  the  anstocracy  with  the  Court,  the 
Government  and  politics,  with  the  Church,  with 
literature,  the  army  and  navy — even  with  trade  and 
manufactures,  and  certainly  with  agriculture  and 
the  land,  with  the  dependent  classes  and  the  very 
poor — constitute  the  pivot  on  which  all  English  life 
revolves,  the  feature  w^hich  is  most  marked  in  the 
national  character  and  polity ;  the  explanation  of 
what  is  most  peculiar,  the  charm  of  what  is  most 


INTKODUCTION. 


attractive,  and  the  root  of  wliat  is  most  repelling ; 
the  strength  of  what  is  greatest  in  the  past  or 
firmest  in  the  present,  as  vs-ell  as  the  weakness  and 
danger  of  whatever  is  most  threatened  now,  or  most 
certainly  doomed  in  the  future. 

With  this  belief  I  propose  to  give  some  account 
of  the  English  aristocracy,  as  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  seeing  and  studying  it  between  the  years  1869 
and  1881.  My  chapters  are  not  designed  to  form 
the  groundwork  of  an  attack  nor  to  hold  up  even 
the  excellent  points  of  an  aristocracy  for  the  imita- 
tion of  republicans ;  they  are  intended  neither  for 
an  exhaustive  treatise  nor  a  political  disquisition; 
but  to  set  forth  what  I  have  myself  seen  and  known ; 
to  tell  what  struck  me  as  most  curious  or  interest- 
ing ;  to  offer  a  picture  of  an  institution  which  has 
had  an  immense  influence  on  the  whole  modern 
world,  but  which,  with  all  its  glories,  its  pomp  and 
power,  its  fascinations  and  its  faults,  its  vices  and 
its  virtues,  is  destined  soon  to  take  a  place  by  the 
side  of  the  Eoman  Empire  and  the  Venetian  oli- 
garchy. It  may  be  well  to  portray  some  of  its  more 
salient  features  before  the  stately  but  time-woi-n 
fabric  falls. 


ARISTOCRACY  IN  ENGLAND. 


THE    QUEEN. 


The  Queen  is  the  head  of  the  aristocracy.  With 
many  of  its  members,  in  one  way  or  another,  she  is 
allied.  A  large  number  of  those  of  ancient  lineage 
quarter  the  royal  arms,  very  many,  it  is  true,  with 
the  bar  sinister ;  but  probably  a  third  of  tlie  great 
families  of  the  realm  can  trace  their  descent,  legiti- 
mately or  illegitimately,  from  a  former  sovereign. 
In  official  documents  the  monarch  styles  every  peer 
above  the  rank  of  baron,  "  cousin,"  and  the  Queen's 
own  children  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  once  refused  to  apologize  to  a 
brother  of  George  lY.  for  words  spoken  in  tluxt 
assembly,  although  the  King  demanded  it,  for 
"  there,"  he  said,  "  we  are  all  peers." 

Not  a  few  of  the  aristocracy  are  literally  cousins 
of  the  present  Queen,  The  last  King,  her  uncle, 
ennobled  seven  of  his  illegitimate  children,  while 
two  others  married  peers.  One  of  these  first  cous- 
ins was  for  a  long  time  Her  Majesty's  housekeeper, 
another  her  naval  aid-de-camp.  They  are  proud  of 
the  kinship,  too,  and  sport  the  royal  liveries. 


8  AKI8T0CRACY  IN    ENGLAND, 

There  are  connections,  however,  that  Victoria 
does  nut  recognize.  The  line  seems  to  be  drawn  at 
the  descendants  of  sovereigns.  One  of  the  family 
habitually  visits  German  watering-places  with  a 
lady  who  is  not  his  wife,  and  duchesses  dine  with 
her  because  of  her  relations  with  royalty  ;  but  the 
sullied  gentlewoman  never  went  to  Windsor.  Her 
Majesty  countenances  no  such  conduct  in  subjects, 
of  w^hatever  degree.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  her 
own  life  has  been  a  model  of  purity. 

The  only  marriage  with  one  of  her  subjects 
which  the  Queen  has  authorized  is  that  of  her 
daughter,  the  Princess  Louise,  with  the  Marquis  of 
Lome,  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll.  This  was 
the  first  that  had  been  sanctioned  by  both  Crown 
and  Church  since  James  II.  married  the  daughter 
of  Clarendon.  Two  of  the  sons  of  George  II.,  it  is 
true,  married  into  the  aristocracy,  but  the  wife  was 
never  allowed  the  precedence  of  a  sovereign's  child, 
and  since  the  time  of  the  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  in 
1771,  a  marriage  of  one  of  the  royal  familj'  has  been 
invalid  without  the  permission  of  the  Crown.  The 
Duke  of  Sussex,  one  of  the  Queen's  uncles,  was  mar- 
ried to  the  daughter  of  an  earl,  who  never  bore  her 
husband's  title,  or  was  received  at  court ;  and  after 
that  lady's  death,  he  contracted  a  morganatic  mar- 
riage, which  also  gave  his  wife  no  rank  nor  preced- 
ence. Yet  both  were  women  of  unblemished  virtue, 
and  the  second  was  made  a  duchess,  though  not  with 


THE    QUEEN.  9 

her  husband's  title;  the  Queen  visited  her,  and 
the  Prince  of  Wales  attended  her  funeral.  She 
simply  could  not  be  admitted  to  that  exalted  sphere, 
reserved  for  royalty  alone,  "unmixed  with  baser 
matter." 

The  Queen,  however,  not  only  permitted,  but 
made,  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Louise.  If  the 
story  universally  current  is  true,  the  royal  maiden 
returned  the  regard  of  her  brother's  tutor,  wdio 
had  dared  to  cast  his  eyes  so  high,  and  there 
was  danger  of  a  contingency  entirely  contrary  to 
royal  etiquette,  of  a  marriage  beyond  even  the 
morganatic  sphere.  To  prevent  a  catastrophe  so 
appalling,  a  place  in  the  Church  was  given  to  the 
tutor,  which  separated  him  from  the  palace,  and 
the  hand  of  the  Princess  was  offered  to  several 
of  the  young  nobility  in  turn,  but  the  distinction 
was  declined,  until  finally  Lord  Lome  consented 
to  enter  the  royal  family.  The  Queen,  however, 
had  not  foreseen  the  humiliations  which  such 
a  connection  would  impose.  When  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  went  to  pay  his  first  visit  at  Windsor  after 
the  engagement  of  his  son,  he  ventured  to  kiss 
the  lady  who  was  about  to  become  his  daughter. 
One  who  was  present  assured  me  that  the  Queen 
reddened  and  drew  back  with  indignation  at  the 
liberty. 

Yet  Her  Majesty  sanctioned  the  marriage  of  the 
Princess  Helena  with  a  prince  who  already  had  a 


10  AKISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

morganatic  wife,  and  she  lias  just  given  the  young- 
est of  her  daughters  to  another,  supposed  by  royalty 
to  be  so  far  beneath  its  sphere  that  the  imperial 
family  of  Germany  refused  to  be  present  at  the 
ceremony.  The  connections  of  the  Queen,  indeed, 
range  to  the  very  extremities  of  the  (royal)  social 
scale.  One  of  her  children  is  married  to  the  son  of 
the  greatest  of  living  potentates,  another  to  the 
daughter  of  a  Czar,  while  a  third  accepted  a  com- 
moner, the  mere  heir  to  a  dukedom ;  and  the  sister 
of  her  favorite  son-in-law,  a  Prhicess  of  Sleswig- 
Holstein,  the  aunt  of  Her  Majesty's  grandchildren, 
is  absolutely  married  to  a  physician,  and  what  is 
worse,  with  Her  Majesty's  approval.  I  knew  a 
doctor's  wife  in  England  whom  that  Princess  vis- 
ited, and  who  evidently  felt  that  they  both  belonged 
to  the  profession.  Whether  she  was  connected  with 
royalty,  or  royalty  with  physic  and  therefore  with 
her,  I  could  not  tell,  but  she  always  put  on  aii's 
when  she  talked  of  the  Princess. 

These  social  faux  pas  of  the  Queen  she  seems  at 
other  times  inclined  to  atone  for  by  a  rigorous  con- 
formity to  etiquette.  She  received  the  Shah  of 
Persia  as  a  brother  monarch,  met  him  at  the  thresh- 
old of  Windsor,  and  offered  her  cheek  to  be  kissed 
by  the  barbarian  because  he  was  a  reigning  sov- 
ereign, though  she  had  shuddered  to  see  her  daugh- 
ter saluted  by  the  MacCallum  More.  Perliaps  she 
thought  the  dusky  embrace   might  wipe  out  the 


THE    QUEEN.  11 

memory  of  the  mesalliance.  Then,  too,  when  the 
late  Emperor  of  the  French  had  reached  the  purple 
by  perfidy  and  fraud,  she  buckled  the  Garter  on  the 
adventurer's  knee,  although  years  before  she  had 
refused  him  admission  to  her  court.  She  even  kept 
up  the  intimacy  after  he  had  fallen.  ISTapoleon  III. 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Buckingham  Palace  during 
his  exile,  and  the  Empress  is  perhaps  the  one  woman 
whom  the  Queen  of  England  has  ever  regarded 
with  the  friendship  bestowed  on  equals,  "With  no 
other  crowned  head  has  she  been  on  similar  terms. 
Yet,  however  dignified  the  behavior  of  Eugenie 
may  have  been  in  later  days,  the  career  of  Mile,  de 
Montijo  would  certainly  have  excluded  her  from 
the  presence  of  the  English  Queen.  The  future 
sovereign  was  visiting  in  the  family  of  a  lady  whom 
I  know,  when  the  Emperor's  passion  became  evi- 
dent ;  and  the  astute  hostess  has  told  me  of  the 
advice  she  thought  it  necessary  to  give  her  guest. 
"  If  you  never  see  him  alone,"  she  said,  "  you  will 
certainly  become  an  empress."  The  Spanish  beauty 
heeded  the  sagacious  counsel,  and  mounted  the 
imperial  throne.  Once  a  bishop  always  a  bishop, 
and  having  worn  a  crown  the  parvenu  potentates 
could  not  be  divested  of  the  divinity  that  doth 
hedge  even  upstart  kings  and  successful  usurpers, 
though  the  French  people  had  dismissed  and  de- 
throned them.  At  least  the  superstition  lingers  in 
royal  minds. 


12  AEISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

Misfortune,  however,  in  some  eyes  atones  for 
crimes,  and  the  fact  that  they  were  fallen  gave  these 
ephemeral  royalties,  perhaps,  a  claim  upon  their 
more  fortunate  sister.  The  Queen,  indeed,  has 
always  shown  undiminished  deference  to  the  mem- 
bers of  dethroned  dynasties.  The  King  of  Hanover 
received  royal  honors  in  England  after  his  crown 
was  snatched  from  him  by  the  remorseless  Bis- 
marck, and  at  his  death  he  enjoyed  the  distinction 
of  a  royal  funeral.  So,  too,  the  Orleans  princes 
during  their  long  exile  were  always  recognized  as 
royal.  They,  however,  were  relatives,  and  entitled 
to  consideration  on  that  score. 

But  the  principle  was  carried  to  the  extreme  in 
the  case  of  the  son  of  Theodore,  His  late  Majesty  of 
Abyssinia.  The  British  arms  had  overturned  that 
sable  sovereign,  who  died  in  defence  of  his  king- 
dom, and  his  son  became  a  prisoner  and  a  pensioner 
in  England.  I  was  once  at  a  gathering  of  the  clans 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Balmoral,  at  which  Prince 
Leopold  was  present  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  the 
day.  They  came  together,  and  in  the  same  carriage 
was  the  African  Prince  of  the  blood.  He  looked  to 
me  like  any  little  negro  boy  of  nine  or  ten ;  but  he 
had  his  gentlemen  in  waiting,  he  took  precedence 
of  the  Prime  Minister,  and  he  stood  on  the  red 
carpet  reserved  for  royalty  alone. 

The  Queen  still  exacts  for  herself  the  punctilio  of 
former  centuries.     Men  and  women  of  the  highest 


THE    QUEEN.  13 

rank  kueel  to  her  to-day;  Cabinet  Ministers  kiss 
her  hand.  She  refuses  to  receive  any  personal 
service  from  a  menial,  except  at  table.  She  never 
opens  a  door  or  directs  a  letter.  Dukes  and  duch- 
esses cloak  her  in  public,  and  commoners  become 
"  Honorable"  for  life  because  they  have  waited  on 
Her  Majesty.  At  a  garden  party  I  have  seen  a 
duchess  walking  behind  her  to  carry  a  bouquet,  or 
standing  at  the  entrance  of  a  tent  while  her  mistress 
went  within  to  rest  or  refresh  herself.  The  sover- 
eign's own  daughters  an-ange  her  robes  when  she 
opens  Parliament ;  the  Prince  of  Wales  pays  hom- 
age as  a  subject  on  the  same  occasion  ;  her  children 
must  be  presented  at  court  upon  their  marriage.  In 
the  early  part  of  her  reign  she  was  visiting  Louis 
Philippe,  then  King  of  the  French,  at  his  Chateau 
d'Eu,  and  one  day  asked  for  a  glass  of  water.  It 
was  handed  her  by  a  servant,  but  Her  Majesty  de- 
clined to  receive  it ;  whereupon  the  King  directed 
one  of  his  own  sons  to  offer  the  goblet,  which  then 
was  graciously  accepted. 

The  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  waiting  are  not  ex- 
pected to  sit  in  the  presence  of  royalty,  and  count- 
esses and  marchionesses  get  themselves  larger  shoes 
because  they  must  stand  so  long.  I  knew  a  personal 
attendant  of  the  Queen  who  acted  as  secretary, 
a  woman  of  very  high  rank,  and  as  old  as  Her 
Majesty,  who  often,  after  writing  till  she  was  ex- 
hausted, asked  permission  to  finish  on  her  knees. 


14  AKISTOCBACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

Those  who  have  the  honor  of  dining  at  Windsor  are 
shown  after  dinner  into  a  long  gallery  where  there 
are  no  seats,  and  perforce  they  stand  till  Her 
Majesty  is  ready  to  retire.  Then  I  have  seen  two 
duchesses  approach  and  throw  a  shawl  across  the 
shoulders  of  the  Queen,  literally  acting  as  mistresses 
of  the  robes. 

Yet  the  countesses  and  duchesses  are  seldom  will- 
ing to  surrender  their  posts.  There  seems  a  fascina- 
tion, about  the  life,  in  spite  of  its  irksomeness. 
Many  of  the  same  lords  and  ladies  have  been  in 
attendance  on  the  Queen  for  years,  and  some  of 
them  certainly  entertain  a  profound  affection  for 
Her  Majesty.  Indeed,  although  at  drawing-rooms 
and  on  the  rare  occasions  when  the  Queen  is  seen 
in  public  her  demeanor  is  reserved  and  her  expres- 
sion almost  stern,  all  this  is  changed  with  individ- 
uals. The  plain  and  stout  lady,  rather  dowdily 
dressed,  becomes  gracious  and  winning  in  the  last 
degree.  Her  whole  face  is  lighted  with  the  desire 
to  please  and  the  certainty  that  she  succeeds. 
There  is  something  more  than  suave  or  urbane  in 
both  smile  and  bearing,  something  not  exactly 
of  condescension,  for  the  consciousness  of  supe- 
riority is  necessary  for  this,  and  it  is  the  conscious- 
ness only  of  her  grandeur,  not  of  your  inferiority, 
that  she  feels  and  makes  you  feel — a  triumph  of 
manner  worthy  of  the  greatest  of  actresses,  or  of  a 
queen. 


THE    QUEEN.  15 

I  can  specak  without  prejudice  or  partiality,  for 
the  only  opportunity  I  have  had  of  conversing  with 
Her  Majesty  was  when  I  thought  I  had  been  treated 
with  discourtesy ;  but  even  then  the  sweetness  of 
her  behavior  overcame  my  soreness  and  subdued 
my  not  unnatural  resentment.  Her  first  utterance 
was  to  thank  me  for  a  book  I  had  sent  her  seven 
years  before,  and  which  had  been  acknowledged  at 
the  time,  and  every  syllable  she  spoke  was  intended 
to  give  me  pleasure.  The  acts  of  the  Queen  may 
sometimes  seem  ungracious,  her  action,  never,  I  am . 
told. 

I  was  once  strongly  reminded  of  the  great  gen- 
iuses of  the  stage  by  the  mien  and  deportment  of 
the  Majesty  of  England.  It  was  at  the  opening  of 
the  Albert  Hall.  The  building  was  crowded  to  its 
utmost,  and  the  Queen  walked  down  the  vast 
amphitheatre  to  what  may  be  called  the  stage,  pre- 
ceded and  followed  by  great  dignitaries  and  accom- 
panied by  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales.  When 
she  turned  to  face  the  multitude  eight  thousand 
people  were  standing  in  her  honor,  and  the  cheers 
were  deafening.  And  then  there  came  across  her 
features  an  expression  which  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
describe  ;  her  face  fairly  shone  with  gratification  at 
the  loyalty  of  her  people  and  motherly  affection  for 
them  in  return.  She  courtesied  again  and  again, 
lower  and  lower,  exactly  like  a  great  actress  playing 
a  queen  who  had  been  called  out  to  receive  the 


16  AKISTOCBACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

plaudits  of  her  audience.  But  of  all  the  famous 
mistresses  of  the  stage  that  I  have  seen,  tlie  women 
of  genius  who  enraptured  nations,  none  ever  sur- 
passed in  grace  or  dignity,  at  the  proudest  moments 
of  her  mimicry,  this  real  sovereign  acknowledging 
absolute  homage. 


II. 

AT  COURT. 

The  intercourse  of  a  British  subject  of  the  upper 
classes  with  the  sovereign  usually  begins  with  a 
presentation  at  court;  but  there  are  still  houses 
where  the  Queen  visits  personally  an  old  or  invalid 
friend,  and  the  children  may  thus  be  earlier  brought 
into  the  presence  of  royalty.  After  the  Thanks- 
giving for  the  recovery  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  there 
was  much  unfavorable  comment  because  Her  Maj- 
esty had  appeared  at  Saint  Paul's  in  bonnet  and 
shawl,  although  peers  and  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  were  compelled  to  wear  levee  dress. 
Former  sovereigns  on  similar  occasions  had  worn 
their  robes  and  crowns,  and  the  loyal  throng  had 
been  greatly  disappointed  at  not  beholding  their 
Queen  in  "  all  her  proud  attire."  The  next  day 
Her  Majesty  paid  a  visit  to  the  mother  of  a  duke 
who  had  been  unable  to  leave  her  couch  for  years. 
Notice  as  usual  was  given  in  advance,  the  house 
was  prepared,  the  red  carpet  laid,  the  gentlemen  of 
the  family  were  in  evening  dress,  and  the  Queen 
was  received  with  the  proper  etiquette.  During 
2 


18  AKISTOCRACY   EST    ENGLAND. 

her  stay  she  was  petting  a  little  boy  some  five  or 
six  years  old,  when  the  urchin,  who  had  heard  the 
talk  about  Saint  Paul's,  cried  out,  to  the  horror  of 
the  family:  "Are  you  the  Queen?  "Why  didn't 
you  w'ear  your  crown  ? "  But  only  the  scions  of 
illustrious  houses  enjoy  such  opportunities  of  direct 
and  early  communication  with  royalty.  Young 
ladies  of  quality  are  usually  presented  to  Her  Maj- 
esty upon  their  entrance  into  society,  and  the  men 
as  they  emerge  from  hobble-de-hoy-hood  or  the  uni- 
versity. 

The  first  day  I  spent  in  London  I  went  to  a 
levee.  It  was  held  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
only  men  attended.  I  was  then  a  Secretary  of  Le- 
gation, so  that  I  had  what  are  called  the  entrees^ 
and  enjoyed  peculiar  opportunities  for  watching 
the  spectacle.  The  Prince  was  standing  with  his 
attendants  in  the  throne-room  w^hen  the  diplomatists 
entered  in  the  order  of  their  rank,  and  those  of  the 
same  rank  according  to  the  seniority  of  their  stand- 
ing at  the  English  court.  This  point  of  precedence 
was  thought  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  estab- 
lished at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  conform  to  the  rule. 
Each  ambassador  or  minister  is  followed  by  the 
members  of  his  embassy  or  legation,  who  have  no 
place  of  their  own ;  they  are  simply  the  suite  of 
their  chief. 

The  Prince  was  at  the  head  of  the  room  facing 


AT    COUKT.  19 

the  entrance ;  on  his  left  were  his  brothers  and  the 
other  men  of  the  rojal  family,  all  arranged  punc- 
tiliously according  to  their  degree  ;  then  came  the 
Government  of  the  day;  on  the  right  were  the 
courtiers  in  attendance,  the  whole  forming  a  semi- 
circle, which  extended  to  the  doors  for  entrance  and 
exit  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room.  Each  per- 
son coming  to  court  brings  a  card,  with  his  name 
or  title  written  out  in  full ;  this  is  given  up  at  the 
door  and  passed  along  to  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain, who  stands  next  to  the  Prince  and  reads  the 
card  aloud.  A  profound  bow  is  all  the  obeisance 
.required  from  men.  If  the  Prince,  however, 
knows  the  visitor  well  or  wishes  to  do  him  especial 
honor,  he  extends  his  hand,  which  can  only  be  taken 
by  an  ungloved  hand  in  return,  so  that  "  No  gloves 
at  court "  is  a  peremptory  etiquette,  at  least  for  the 
right  hand.  After  a  reverence  to  each  of  the  royal 
personages,  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
take  up  their  positions  immediately  opposite  the 
Prince  and  his  surroundings,  thus  forming  a  nar- 
row lane,  through  which  all  after  comers  must  pass, 
for  the  diplomatists  constitute  a  part  of  the  court, 
and  must  remain  until  royalty  leaves  the  room. 

All  others,  except  a  very  few  great  personages 
who  have  the  entrees,  pass  directly  through  the  lane 
of  disnitaries  and  into  an  anteroom,  so  that  for 
them  the  ceremony  lasts  but  a  moment ;  but  the 
procession  continues,  sometimes  for  hours,  and  as 


20  ARI8T0CKACY  IN    ENGLAND, 

every  one  but  an  American  is  in  some  showy  dress, 
tlie  effect  to  an  unaccustomed  eye  is  decidedly  im- 
posing. I  was  particularly  struck  at  my  first  levee 
with  the  manly  beauty  of  the  young  aristocrats.  I 
was  not  then  familiar  with  the  ruddy  complexions 
and  brown  or  golden  hair,  the  superb  forms  and 
graceful  bearing  that  abundant  exercise  and  the  pe- 
culiar climate  combine  to  give  the  British  youth  of 
the  higher  class.  Arrayed  in  Highland  kilt  or 
military  scarlet,  or  even  in  the  plainer  breeches  and 
laced  coat  of  the  modern  courtier,  they  passed 
along,  by  far  the  handsomest  set  of  men  I  had  ever 
seen.  * 

I  must  say,  however,  that  the  show  outside  was 
finer  still.  The  huge  footmen  were  sometimes 
smarter  than  their  masters  in  looks  as  well  as 
clothes,  for  the  court  liveries  are  often  the  dress 
worn  by  the  nobility  in  former  times,  while  the 
lackeys  themselves  are  selected  for  their  height  and 
the  size  of  their  calves.  I  know  a  duchess  who, 
whenever  she  hires  a  footman,  makes  him  get  into 
breeches  and  march  up  and  down  in  her  dining- 
room  till  she  can  decide  whether  his  shape  and  his 
walk  are  what  her  dignity  requires. 

A  drawing-room  is  held  by  the  Queen,  or  on 
rare  occasions  by  the  Princess  of  Wales.  It  is  in- 
tended only  for  ladies,  and  the  announcement  is 
made  in  the  public  prints  that  "noblemen  and 
gentlemen  are  not  expected  to  present  themselves 


AT    COUKT.  21 

unless  in  attendance  on  the  ladies  of  their  families." 
The  Queen  is  easily  fatigued,  and  prefers  as  much 
as  possible  to  limit  the  number  of  her  faithful  sub- 
jects on  these  occasions.  But  as  everybody  of  con- 
sequence who  is  in  London  is  supposed  to  go  to 
court  once  a  year,  and  as  no  one  is  invited  to  the 
Queen's  balls  or  concerts  who  has  not  first  attended 
a  levee  or  drawing-room,  the  crowd  is  often  very 
great. 

The  names  of  those  not  previously  presented 
must  be  sent  in  "  two  clear  days  "  in  advance,  as 
well  as  the  names  of  those  who  present  them  ;  and 
it  does  not  follow,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  every 
name  is  accepted.  Any  known  immorality  in  a 
woman  is  fatal,  no  matter  what  her  rank.  On  this 
point  Her  Majesty  is  immiitable.  No  woman  who 
has  deserted  her  husband  for  another  man,  and 
none  who  has  lived  with  a  man  without  marriage, 
can  ever  be  presented  to  the  English  Queen.  If 
the  stigma  is  discovered  too  late,  a  notice  is 
inserted  in  the  newspapers  that  the  presentation 
has  been  cancelled.  This  occurred  some  years 
ago  in  the  case  of  a  woman  of  title,  wife  of  a 
member  of  the  Government.  But,  usually,  ladies 
of  sullied  reputations  are  aware  of  Her  Majesty's 
rule,  and  take  care  not  to  risk  consequences  so  dis- 
agreeable. 

Dress,  however,  deters  quite  as  many  as  charac- 
ter.    The  regulations  are  as  rigid  on  one  point  as 


22  ARISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

the  other.  The  oldest  dowager  must  bare  her  with- 
ered arms  and  neck  before  presenting  herself  in  the 
august  presence,  or,  in  order  to  appear  with  suffi- 
cient protection,  a  medical  certificate  is  indispensa- 
ble. Then  the  train  must  be  three  yards  long,  and 
the  position  of  the  feathers  that  must  be  worn  is  a 
matter  of  supreme  importance.  The  Queen  directs 
that  the  featliers  shall  be  placed  at  the  back  of  the 
head,  but  thej  must  be  high  enough  to  be  visible 
to  Her  Majesty  when  the  lady  enters  the  room. 
Women  of  rank  have  been  turned  away  for  neglect- 
ing some  of  these  rules. 

Court  mourning,  too,  is  a  subject  for  the  most 
serious  consideration.  The  number  of  days  it  must 
be  worn,  the  depth  of  the  sorrow  it  indicates,  the 
colors  of  the  fans  and  the  shoes,  are  all  prescribed ; 
and  the  presence-chamber  of  Her  Majesty  after  a 
person  of  royal  rank  in  Siam  or  Brazil  has  gone  to 
receive  his  deserts  in  some  other  world,  is  lugubri- 
ous in  the  last  degree.  A  black  drawing-room,  as 
it  is  called,  would  be  unendurable  were  it  not  that 
all  is  so  manifestly  matter  of  form.  The  grief  that 
court  ladies  feel  on  the  death  of  the  uncle  of  the 
Czar,  or  of  some  petty  cousin  of  the  Queen,  whom 
even  Her  Majesty  has  seldom  seen,  can  hardly  be 
very  profound.  Besides,  if  the  mourning  lasts  more 
than  ten  days,  they  are  generally  allowed  to  miti- 
gate its  sombreness  with  purple  or  red,  and  though 
their  clothes  must  be  as  black  as  the  court  circular 


AT    COURT.  23 

requires,  they  may  go  to  as  many  balls  as  they 
please. 

There  is  a  long  and  tedious  time  to  be  endured 
by  those  whom  loyalty  takes  to  court.  At  both 
levee  and  drawing-room  the  visitors  must  pass 
through  different  apartments,  to  wliich  they  are  ad- 
mitted in  sections;  ropes  are  drawn  across  these 
rooms  to  prevent  the  aristocrats  behind  from  jDush- 
ing  forward  too  eagerly,  and  the  enclosures  thus 
formed  are  properly  enough  called  "  pens."  This 
device,  however,  does  not  prevent  great  crowding 
and  sometimes  flagrant  ill-breeding  in  the  "  highest 
society  of  Europe."  The  daughter  of  an  earl  told 
me  she  had  often  known  ladies  stick  pins  into  the 
bare  arms  of  those  in  front  to  make  them  move  out 
of  the  way;  and  in  the  rush  after  the  ropes  are 
withdrawn,  I  have  twice  had  my  epaulettes  torn 
from  my  shoulders.  If  this  should  occur  to  an 
Englishman  at  the  White  House  what  lectures  we 
should  receive  on  the  manners  of  a  democracy ! 

The  Queen,  as  I  have  said,  is  anxious  to  restrict 
the  number  of  those  who  pay  their  homage.  The 
members  of  the  Government,  however,  are  ex- 
pected to  be  present  whenever  the  sovereign  holds 
her  court,  and  until  recently  their  wives  as  well 
were  always  in  attendance,  and  sometimes  they  pre- 
tended to  find  the  obligation  irksome.  But  not 
long  ago  these  ladies  were  informed  that  Her  Maj- 
esty did  not  desire  their  company  at  more  than  a 


24  AKISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

single  drawing-room  in  a  season,  and  they  took  the 
notification  in  verj  high  dudgeon.  But  there  was 
no  recourse. 

Indeed,  when  there  are  more  than  two  unmarried 
danghtei's  in  a  family,  the  Queen's  most  formal  in- 
vitations expressly  exclude  a  third.  "  The  Ladies 
Guelph  (2),"  or  "  The  Misses  Plantagenet  (2) "  is 
the  form  in  which  the  royal  courtesy  is  extended. 
This  limitation  appears  even  on  the  cards  addressed 
to  ambassadors  and  the  representatives  of  sovereign 
States,  -who  are  thus  warned  not  to  encroach  with 
their  whole  families  at  once  on  the  palatial  hospitali- 
ties of  England. 

This  cautionary  notice,  however,  is  issued  only 
for  balls  and  other  entertainments  to  which  the 
guests  are  specially  invited.  A  "court"  is  an  oc- 
casion when  individuals  of  rank  pay  tlieir  respects 
to  a  royal  personage,  usually  without  actual  invita- 
tion. The  Lord  Chamberlain  makes  it  known  that 
a  levee  or  drawing-room  will  be  held,  and  any 
whose  rank  entitles  them  are  at  liberty  to  present 
themselves.  The  diplomatic  corps,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  attend  ;  it  is,  indeed,  considered  a  discourtesy 
if  they  are  absent  without  good  cause. 

But  the  chiefs  of  the  coi'ps  in  England  not  long 
ago  received  an  intimation  that  their  secretaries  and 
attaches  were  not  expected  to  be  present  at  drawing- 
rooms.  'Now,  in  such  matters  the  Queen  can,  of 
course,  command  her  own  subjects,  and  she  certainly 


AT    COURT.  25 

ought  to  have  the  right  to  regulate  her  own  court ; 
but  there  are  no  more  sensitive  beings  on  earth 
than  diplomatic  representatives  away  from  home. 
They  assume  that  all  the  dignity  of  their  country 
is  concentrated  in  their  proper  persons.  The  ques- 
tion where  and  how  to  place  them  arises  at  every 
ceremony,  and  is  a  constant  occasion  of  irritation 
and  discord.  They  are  never  satisfied,  no  matter 
what  is  done  for  them ;  they  are  exacting,  proud, 
punctilious,  and  often  put  aside  politeness  for  pre- 
cedence and  courtesy  for  form.  Their  prerogatives, 
they  say,  are  matters  not  of  privilege  but  of  inter- 
national law.  I  have  seen  them  commit  outrages 
upon  good  manners  that  the  roughest  American 
would  disdain  to  perpetrate — thrust  ladies  back  to 
take  precedence  of  them,  or  leave  a  dinner-table 
because  of  the  place  to  which  they  were  assigned. 

So,  of  course,  the  diplomatists  resented  the  at- 
tempt to  prohibit  their  suites  from  attending  court. 
One  ambassador  declared  that  he  represented  the 
person  of  his  sovereign,  and  that  Her  Majesty  had 
no  right  to  dictate  the  degree  of  state  or  the  retinue 
with  which  he  should  present  himself  as  his  master's 
proxy.  Accordingly  he  took  a  whole  carriage-load 
of  secretaries  with  him  to  the  drawing-room ;  and  he 
was  admitted.  For,  without  a  doubt,  and  according 
to  all  the  etiquettes,  no  sovereign  can,  without 
offence,  abridge  the  train  of  an  ambassador.  There 
have  been  wars  for  what  was  deemed  less  cause. 


26  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

But  the  ladies  are  waiting  all  this  time  in  the 
pens.  The  presence-chamber  is  arranged  as  for  a 
levee,  only  that  the  Queen,  and  not  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  is  at  the  centre  of  the  line ;  next  are  the 
ladies  of  her  family,  and  then  the  heir  apparent 
and  his  brothers,  or  any  royal  strangers.  Her 
Majesty  wears  a  black  gown  and  a  widow's  cap. 
Over  the  cap  is  usually  placed  a  small  diamond 
crown,  while  the  ribbon  of  the  Garter  and  similar 
orders  are  on  her  breast,  as  well  as  the  Koh-i-noor 
and  other  jewels  worthy  of  a  queen.  The  Princess 
of  Wales  and  the  other  princesses  are  in  full  court 
dress — petticoats,  trains,  feathers,  and  all.  Behind 
them  stand  their  attendants,  "  male  and  female," 
as  the  court  circular  sometimes  disdainfully  describes 
them. 

When  the  diplomatic  corps  has  made  its  reverences 
and  taken  its  place,  the  English  ladies  follow,  and 
as  each  enters  the  throne-room  with  her  train  over 
her  arm,  two  gentlemen  in  waiting  deftly  seize  this 
appendage  and  spread  it  behind  her,  till  it  hangs 
like  a  peacock's  drooping  tail.  Then  the  lady, 
handing  her  card  to  a  lord-in-waiting,  passes  up 
toward  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  stands  till  he 
pronounces  her  name.  Upon  hearing  it,  she  pros- 
trates herself  in  front  of  the  Queen  so  that  one  knee 
nearly  or  quite  touches  the  floor.  If  it  is  a  presenta- 
tion. Her  Majesty  extends  her  hand  with  the  back 
upward,  and  the  neophyte  placing  her  own  hand 


AT    COURT.  27 

transversely  under  that  of  the  sovereign,  raises  the 
royal  extremity  to  her  lips.  When  the  lady  is  of 
the  rank  of  an  earl's  daughter,  the  Queen  bends 
slightly  forward  to  kiss  the  cheek  of  her  subject, 
and  the  homage  is  complete ;  but  there  have  been 
occasions  when  the  novice  was  insufficiently  in- 
structed in  advance  and  kissed  the  monarch  in 
return,  very  much  to  the  disgust  of  Majesty  and 
the  horror-struck  amazement  of  the  courtiers.  After 
the  obeisance  to  the  Queen,  another  must  be  made 
to  every  one  in  the  royal  circle  in  turn,  the  depth 
of  the  courtesy  being  graduated  according  to  the 
rank  of  the  personage ;  and  as  the  last  prostration 
is  performed  and  the  subject  rises  to  her  natural 
position  in  life  again,  two  other  watchful  lords,  or 
gentlemen,  as  skilful  as  the  first,  catch  up  her  train 
and  throw  it  once  more  over  the  lady's  arm,  and 
she  slowly  stumbles  backward  out  of  the  room, 
having  been  at  court. 

It  took  her  two  hours,  I  suppose,  to  dress,  and 
she  sat  in  evening  costume  two  hours  more  in  line 
in  her  carriage  before  she  entered  the  palace ;  then 
she  was  at  least  an  hour  in  the  pens,  and  she  was 
two  minutes  in  the  presence  of  royalty.  Now  she 
must  probably  wait  an  hour  or  more  for  her  car- 
riage, but  she  has  been  at  court.  If  she  is  young, 
she  has  practised  her  obeisance  for  days  in  advance, 
and  the  backward  step  as  well,  and  is  delighted  that 
at  last  she  is  in  the  world.    If  she  is  an  aspirant  after 


28  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

social  honors,  a  Beckj  Sharp  working  her  way  up- 
ward, Thackeray  has  told  us  of  her  sensations.  If 
she  has  gone  through  the  ceremony  forty  times 
before,  she  throws  herself  back  in  her  carriage  and 
exclaims,  like  the  cockney  who  had  seen  the  Apollo 
BeWidere  :  "  Thank  God  !  That's  done  !  " 


III. 

RANK  AND  TITLE. 

The  population  of  England  is  divided  into  peers 
and  commoners.  There  are  five  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  of  one  class  and  thirty-five  millions  of 
the  other.  The  nobility,  however,  was  at  one  time 
even  more  restricted  in  numbers.  At  the  close  of 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses  there  were  twenty-nine  peers 
left  in  England,  and  at  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  in 
1603,  there  were  still  only  fifty-nine.  In  the  present 
year  of  our  Lord  about  six  hundred  men,  with 
their  immediate  families,  constitute  the  aristocracy 
of  England. 

The  orders  of  nobility  are  five  :  Dukes,  marquises, 
earls,  viscounts,  and  barons.  In  every  instance  the 
eldest  son  succeeds  by  right  of  birth  to  the  rank 
and  titles  of  his  father;  but  all  the  children  of  a 
peer  are  titled,  and  their  precedence  is  strictly  de- 
fined. Nevertheless  they  are  commoners  in  the  eye 
of  the  law  ;  their  titles  are  by  courtesy  only,  and  in 
official  documents  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Ai-gyll  is  described  as  "  John  Campbell,  commonly 
called  the  Marquis  of  Lome."     I  once  heard  a  very 


30  AEISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

eminent  man,  himself  a  member  of  the  aristocracy, 
deride  the  notion  that  the  son  of  an  EngHsh  earl 
was  noble.  "  That's  what  they  call  a  nobleman  !  " 
said  this  son  and  brother  and  nncle  of  earls. 

The  wives  of  peers  are  all  peeresses,  and  are 
styled  duchesses,  marchionesses,  countesses,  vis- 
countesses, and  baronesses.  There  are  also  several 
peeresses  in  their  own  right,  for  in  certain  families, 
in  default  of  sons,  the  dignity  descends  to  daugh- 
ters. Should  there  be  more  than  one  daughter,  they 
are  co-heirs  and  the  title  remains  in  abeyance  until 
only  one  survives.  She  then  becomes  a  peeress  in 
her  own  right,  and  transmits  the  succession  to  her 
eldest  son.  I  knew  such  a  lady,  married  to  a  com- 
moner, and  he  took  her  family  name,  so  that  their 
son,  who  would  succeed,  might  inherit  the  greater 
name ;  for  no  peeress  can  by  marriage  confer  any 
rank  on  an  ignoble  husband.  He  remains  a  com- 
moner, and  upon  the  death  of  his  wife  will  be  a 
commoner  still,  though  his  son  becomes  a  peer. 
He  is  not  even  a  dowager.  The  dignity  of  Lord 
Great  Chamberlain  is  hereditary  in  one  of  these 
families,  and  sometimes  descends  to  females.  It 
was  recently  in  abeyance  between  two  old  ladies 
who  together  constituted  the  Lord  Great  Chamber- 
lain of  England.  They  were,  however,  allowed  to 
depute  one  individual  to  act  for  both,  on  certain 
state  occasions  when  this  important  functionary 
attends  the  Queen. 


KANK    AND   TITLE,  31 

Scotch  and  Irish  peers,  as  such,  have  no  admis- 
sion to  the  House  of  Lords,  but  there  are  twenty- 
eight  representative  Irish  peers,  elected  by  their 
fellows  for  life,  who  sit  in  that  assembly,  and  six- 
teen Scotch  lords,  elected  for  a  single  Parliament. 
Very  many  of  the  nobility  of  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
however,  are  also  peers  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  therefore  members,  in  their  own  right,  of  the 
House  of  Lords.  Altogether  there  are  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  peers  without  seats  in  the  Upper 
Chamber.  In  all  other  respects  their  rights  and 
privileges  are  the  same  as  those  of  other  peers  of 
the  same  degree.  Yet  their  dignity  is  less  re- 
garded. A  prominent  commoner  once  sought  per- 
mission of  one  of  the  Georges  to  ride  in  a  precinct 
of  St.  James's  Park  reserved  for  the  royal  family 
and  the  court.  "  No,  indeed,"  said  the  King ;  "  I 
will  make  him  an  Irish  peer,  but  I  won't  let  him 
ride  in  St.  James's  Park." 

Two  archbishops  and  twenty-three  bishops  have 
seats  in  the  House  of  Lords,  but  their  titles  are  not 
hereditary,  and  their  wives  have  neither  rank  nor 
precedence.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  goes 
before  dukes,  and  next  after  the  royal  family,  but 
his  wife  is  plain  Mrs.  Smith  or  Jones,  and  follows 
every  woman  who  has  rank  of  her  own  in  the 
kingdom.  The  spiritual  lords  can  hardly  be  said 
to  belong  to  the  aristocracy,  though  you  would 
never  suspect  it  from  their  bearing.     They  sit  in 


32  AEISTOCKACY  IN   ENGLAND. 

its  chambers  and  are  reckoned  in  its  degrees,  but 
their  blood  is  not  ennobled. 

Of  the  present  peerage  only  about  two  hundred 
families  have  been  noble  for  more  than  a  century. 
At  the  accession  of  George  III.,  in  1Y60,  the  House 
of  Lords  numbered  175  members  ;  all  the  others 
have  been  created  since,  most  of  them  for  services 
to  their  party  or  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  day. 
Pitt  created  fifty  peers  in  five  years,  and  during  the 
seventeen  years  of  his  administration  he  tlms  re- 
warded 150  of  his  followers.  That  it  is  the  minis- 
ter who  really  confers  the  dignity  is  shown  by  the 
habit  of  the  English  waiters,  who  no  longer  speak 
of  the  Queen  as  creating  a  peer,  but  always  attrib- 
ute the  act  to  the  Premier.  Formerly,  of  course, 
this  was  the  sovereign's  faculty,  but  the  power  of 
the  Crown,  in  this  as  in  other  matters,  has  passed 
to  its  nominal  servants.  During  the  twelve  years 
that  I  spent  in  England  Lord  Beacon sfield  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  together  made  sixty-one  English  noble- 
mem  Of  these,  twenty-seven  were  promoted  from 
a  lower  grade  ;  the  others  had  been  commoners,  and 
were  thus  absolute  additions  to  the  peerage.  A 
Liberal  marquis  was  made  a  duke  solely  because  of 
his  immense  wealth,  and  the  appointment  was  uni- 
versally applauded,  while  a  Conservative  commoner 
found  himself  suddenly  noble  in  all  his  veins  be- 
cause he  had  been  Beaconsfield's  private  secretary. 

In  some  few  instances  great  military  or  naval 


BANK   AND   TITLE.  33 

achievements  have  been  rewarded  with  a  peerage. 
Marlborough,  Wellington,  and  Nelson  are  the 
famous  names  that  will  occur  to  all,  and  Strath- 
nairn,  Napier,  and  others  in  our  own  day  have  also 
fairly  earned  their  rank  by  success  in  arms;  but 
these  can  be  counted  on  the  fingers.  The  real 
passport  to  the  upper  House  is  the  favor  of  the 
Prime  Minister.  Of  course  this  may  be  won  by 
public  services ;  a  great  diplomatist  or  a  successful 
Governor-General  is  sometimes  ennobled,  or  raised 
a  step  in  the  peerage,  but  rarely  unless  he  is  of  the 
party  in  power.  There  are  besides  what  are  called 
"law  lords,"  lawyers  who  have  risen  from  the 
middle,  or  even  the  lower,  class  by  their  ability  or 
learning,  and  finally  reached  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords ;  but  these  must  espouse  a  party,  and  have 
little  chance  of  promotion  while  their  antagonists 
are  in  possession  of  the  Government.  The  bishops, 
too,  and  even  the  archbishops,  are  appointed  by  the 
Prime  Minister  from  his  own  party  in  politics. 
The  Father  in  God  must  be  a  Tory  to  be  conse- 
crated in  Tory  times,  and  a  Liberal  can  succeed  the 
Apostles  only  when  the  Liberals  hold  the  reins. 
Nine-tenths  of  all  the  creations  of  peers  in  the  last 
hundred  years  have  been  as  purely  for  partisan 
reasons  as  the  nominations  of  any  President  of  the 
United  States  to  which  the  advocates  of  "  civil  ser- 
vice reform  "  have  been  most  violently  o])posed. 
And  these  English  appointnients  are  not  for  a 
3 


34  AEISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

term,  nor  for  good  behavior,  but  for  life,  and  verj 
often  during  very  bad  behavior ;  not  only  to  execu- 
tive, but  to  legislative  office ;  not  to  one  man,  but 
to  his  descendants  as  long  as  the  institutions  of 
Ene-laud  endure.  "  When  Pitt  had .  been  eight 
years  in  power,"  says  an  English  writer,  "  he  had 
created  between  sixty  and  seventy  peers,  of  whom 
the  greatest  part  owed  tiieir  elevation  to  the  Parlia- 
mentary support  which  they  had  themselves  given 
to  the  Minister,  or  to  their  interest  in  returning 
members  to  the  House  of  Commons.  Can  we 
wonder,"  he  adds,  "  if  some  of  them  were  unworthy 
of  nobility  ? "  This,  however,  was  better  than  the 
action  of  the  sovereigns  themselves,  when  they  were 
in  reality,  as  well  as  in  name,  "  the  fountain  of 
honor."  Charles  and  James  11.  and  George  I.  and 
II.  all  ennobled  their  mistresses.  Most  of  the 
Kings  have  done  the  same  for  their  illegitimate  oif- 
spring,  while  many  of  the  peerages  conferred  by 
James  I.  and  Charles  II.  were  sold. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  artist,  no  man  of  science, 
and,  except  Tennyson,  no  man  of  purely  literary 
eminence,  has  ever  received  a  coronet  in  England. 
Macaulay  has  sometimes  been  cited  as  an  instance 
to  the  contrary ;  but  had  not  his  great  genius  been 
applied  to  politics,  he  never  would  have  penetrated 
the  House  of  Lords.  It  was  the  Whig  partisan,  not 
the  brilliant  essayist,  not  even  the  partial  historian, 
who  was  rewarded  wnth  a  peerage ;  and  he  would 


EANK    AND    TITLE.  35 

not  have  received  the  dignity  had  he  not  been 
childless  and  unmarried.  For  it  is  not  unusual  to 
bestow  this  prize  on  an  old  and  unmarried  plebeian, 
when  it  is  probable  that  the  title  will  become  ex- 
tinct upon  his  death.  Tlius  the  aristocracy  is  kept 
exclusive,  and  if  a  man  of  the  people  finds  his  way 
within  the  sacred  purlieus,  it  is  so  contrived  that  he 
shall  not  transmit  his  honors  to  another  generation. 
The  distinctions  among  the  aristocracy  are  nu- 
merous and  intricate.  The  eldest  son  of  a  nobleman 
of  the  rank  of  earl  is  "  commonly  called  "  by  his 
father's  second  title,  for  many  peers  are  of  several 
degrees  ;  the  families  have  generally  been  ennobled 
in  a  lower  grade,  and  afterward  risen  to  the  rank 
they  now  enjoy.  Some  of  the  dukes  have  thus  half 
a  score  of  inferior  titles,  the  Duke  of  Athole  no 
fewer  than  seventeen.  The  younger  sons  of  dukes 
and  marquises  use  the  prefix  of  Lord  before  their 
Christian  name,  while  the  younger  sons  of  earls  and 
all  the  sons  of  viscounts  and  barons  have  that  of 
Honorable.  In  nearly  the  same  way  the  daughters 
of  dukes,  marquises,  and  earls  are  called  Ladies, 
and  the  daughters  of  viscounts  and  barons  Honor- 
able. In  all  there  must  be  eight  or  ten  thousand 
of  these  people,  including  the  widows  and  chil- 
dren of  deceased  peers,  who  retain  a  diluted  no- 
bility. The  grandchildren  of  peers  are  untitled, 
but  the  eldest  son  of  an  eldest  son,  being  in  the 
direct  line  of  succession,  has  a  place  in  the  oligarchy. 


36  ARISTOCRACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

Sometimes  a  man  wliose  father  is  dead  comes  into 
a  title  transmitted  from  a  more  distant  relative,  an 
uncle  or  a  cousin,  and  then,  though  he  becomes  a 
peer,  his  mother  has  not  the  rank  which  she  would 
have  enjoyed  had  he  inherited  from  his  father. 
Plain  Mrs.  Jones  may  have  a  son  an  earl,  or  even  a 
duke.  In  such  cases  the  brothers  and  sisters  are 
raised  to  the  rank  of  a  peer's  children ;  and  the 
world  calls  them  "  paper  "  lords  and  ladies ;  but  the 
mother  does  not  receive  the  promotion,  for  she 
would  then  become  a  peeress  without  having  mar- 
ried a  peer. 

Eank,  however,  descends  below  the  nobility.  The 
grade  next  to  that  of  baron  is  baronet.  This  dignity 
is  hereditary,  but  confers  no  right  to  a  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  Its  possessor  bears  the  title  of 
Sir  before  his  Christian  name,  and  his  wife  is  called 
Lady.  The  first  baronets  were  created  by  James  L, 
and  the  title  in  his  reign  was  often  sold.  At  a  time 
when  the  sovereign  or  the  minister  was  lavish  of 
the  honor,  a  certain  Duchess  of  Queensberry  ex- 
claimed that  she  could  not  spit  out  of  her  carriage 
window  without  spitting  on  a  baronet.  The  famous 
Lady  Holland  of  Holland  House  was  almost  as 
arrogant  in  our  own  day.  She  was  a  baroness, 
and  Sir  Henry  Holland,  the  well-known  physician 
and  baronet,  had  been  one  of  her  favorite  guests ; 
but  when  she  heard  that  he  was  about  to  marry, 
she  declared  that    if  he  introduced  another  Lady 


KANK   AND   TITLE.  37 

Holland  into  London  society  lie  should  never  enter 
lier  doors  again.  The  dignity,  however,  is  not  a 
little  prized  by  its  possessors,  of  whom  there  were 
when  I  last  counted  no  fewer  than  873. 

The  lowest  title  of  all  is  that  of  knight,  which  is 
not  hereditary,  and  carries  little  distinction,  but  the 
knight  is  called  Sir,  and  his  wife  Lady. 

In  society,  titles  are  dropped  as  much  as  possible. 
Nobody  nowadays  says  "  your  grace  "  to  a  duke  or 
an  archbishop,  and  to  use  "my  lord  "  or  "  my  lady," 
or  "your  lordship"  or  "ladyship"  savors  of  the 
shop  or  the  servants'  hall.  ^Neither  do  people  of 
condition  often  talk  of  the  Marquis  of  Bute  or  the 
Countess  of  Cork.  Among  themselves  they  say 
Lord  Bute  and  Lady  Cork.  Indeed  lord  and  lady  are 
the  appellations  given  in  conversation  to  everybody 
in  the  peerage  below  the  ducal  rank.  To  a  duke 
you  say  Duke,  and  to  a  duchess  Duchess,  though 
people  not  used  to  this  high  company  often  slip  in 
a  "  grace  "  or  two,  to  the  amusement  of  their  neigh- 
bors, but  never  that  I  could  observe  to  the  disturb- 
ance or  surprise  of  the  ducal  personages  themselves. 
These  probably  think  the  present  familiarity  with 
which  people  of  their  importance  are  addressed 
decidedly  inappropriate.  A  certain  duchess  went 
not  long  ago  to  call  upon  a  countess  named  Lady 
Cowper,  but  found  she  was  mistaken  in  the  person ; 
and,  expressing  her  regret,  she  said  :  "  I  suppose  it 
was  some  inferior  Lady  Cowper  I  should  have  asked 


38  AKISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

for."  The  peeresses,  indeed,  are  not  at  all  pleased 
that  the  wives  of  knights  and  bai'onets  should  take 
the  title  of  Lady.  The  ancient  form  prescribed  for 
these  gentlewomen  of  lower  degree  was  Dame,  and 
the  superior  ladies  think  that  their  inferior  sisters 
should  retain  the  older  appellation,  so  that  the  dis- 
tinction in  rank  might  be  apparent.  As  it  is,  a 
marchioness  may  be  confounded  with  the  wife  of  an 
alderman,  for  either  may  be  Lady  Bath. 

But  the  baronets'  wives  and  the  knights'  wives 
like  the  custom  very  well.  Most  women  prize  rank 
more  than  men,  and  I  once  heard  a  close  observer 
say  that  no  woman  in  England  would  refuse  a  duke. 
I  don't  think  he  was  right.  Nevertheless,  a  woman 
who  had  earls  for  grandfathers  on  both  sides  of  the 
house,  but  enjoyed  no  title  herself,  confessed  to  me 
that  she  was  dying  to  be  "  My  lady."  I  said  to  this 
scion  of  illustrious  houses:  "You  surely  wouldn't 
be  the  wife  of  a  knight  ? "  "  Oh,  yes,  I  would,"  she 
replied;  "  anything  to  be  '  My  lady.'  " 

Besides  all  these,  there  are  various  official  people 
with  temporary  titles  or  precedence,  but  as  a  rule  the 
members  of  the  Government  gain  little  in  rank  by 
being  in  office.  The  Prime  Minister  himself  has  no 
precedence  by  virtue  of  his  place,  and  I  have  seen 
Mr.  Gladstone,  when  at  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment, go  in  to  dinner  after  barons  of  his  own  crea- 
tion. Even  when  ministers  enjoy  a  temporary  rank 
this  never  confers  precedence  on  their  wives,  who, 


KANK    AND    TITLE.  39 

like  the  wives  of  bishops  and  arclibisbops,  can  sit  at 
the  bottom  of  the  table  and  look  up  to  the  top, 
where  their  husbands  are  dining  by  the  side  of 
duchesses.  When  I  first  observed  the  little  regard 
paid  to  ofiicial  rank  in  England,  I  expressed  my 
sui-prise,  but  was  quickly  told :  "  Oh !  we  respect  the 
substance,  not  the  shadow."  An  American  would 
have  said  tliat  rank  was  the  shadow  and  power  the 
substance,  but  hereditary,  permanent  rank  is  what 
most  Englishmen  prize  above  all  earthly  honors.  It 
is  the  permanency,  especially,  that  they  value.  The 
supercilious  chamberlains  of  the  English  court 
would  scoff  at  the  punctilio  of  the  officials  in 
"Washington,  arranging  themselves  according  to  the 
grades  of  their  short-lived  grandeur. 

Rank,  indeed,  in  England  is  so  much  regarded 
that  if  the  widow  of  a  peer  is  remamed  to  a  man 
of  lower  degree,  she  retains  her  former  title  in  the 
later  marriage.  The  famous  Lady  Waldegrave  was 
married  four  times.  By  the  second  marriage  she 
became  a  countess,  and  though  afterward  twice 
married  to  commoners,  she  remained  a  countess  to 
the  end.  Her  invitations  at  one  time  read  :  "  Mr. 
Fortescue  and  Lady  Waldegrave  request  the  hon- 
or." Finally  Mr.  Fortescue  was  created  Baron 
Carlingford,  but  still  she  retained  her  earlier  title, 
for  otherwise  she  must  have  descended  to  the  rank 
of  baroness.  And  this  was  in  strict  accordance 
with  rule.     The  books  lay  down  that  as  the  nobility 


40  AEISTOCKACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

are  all  pares,  peers,  a  peeress  need  not  lose  her 
hiffher  rank  because  she  is  married  to  a  nobleman 

o 

of  lower  degree. 

But  this  is  law  for  the  peers ;  it  is  not  law  for  the 
commoners.  Any  woman,  except  a  peeress  who 
marries  a  peer,  merges  the  highest  rank  she  may- 
have  enjoyed  in  the  dignity  of  her  husband.  The 
daughter  of  a  marquis  or  a  duke  takes  rank  of  a 
baroness,  but  if  she  marries  a  baron  she  forfeits  her 
superior  degree.  There  was  an  instance  of  this  a 
few  years  ago,  when  the  daughter  of  the  Marquis 
of  Ely  married  a  Mr.  Egerton.  As  her  husband  was 
a  commoner,  she  preserved  her  precedence.  They 
were  Mr.  and  Lady  Charlotte  Egerton.  But  by 
and  by  Mr.  Egerton  was  made  a  baron,  and  then 
Lady  Charlotte  applied  to  the  Queen  for  permission 
to  retain  her  former  rank,  but  was  refused.  She 
was  compelled  to  become  a  baroness. 

A  still  more  striking  example  of  this  extreme  re- 
gard for  precedence  was  that  of  Lady  Stratheden,  not 
now  living.  She  was  made  a  baroness  in  her  own 
right,  and  subsequently  her  husband  was  created 
Baron  Campbell.  But  Stratheden,  being  the  older 
peerage  by  two  or  three  years,  had  precedence  of 
Campbell.  So  they  went  about  as  Lord  Campbell 
and  Lady  Stratheden.  But  once,  it  is  said,  at  an 
hotel,  where  the  names  were  thus  inscribed,  the 
manager  went  to  the  husband  and  asked  him  quiet- 
ly :  "  Couldn't  you  call  her  Lady  Campbell  'i " 


KANK    AND   TITLE.  41 

The  same  sentiment  inspired  the  present  Lord 
Chief  Justice  of  England,  who,  when  he  was  offered 
a  peerage,  requested  that  it  should  be  given  to  his 
fiither;  not  from  filial  regard  or  reverence,  but  that 
he  might  himself  inherit  the  title,  and  thus  be  the 
second  lord.  They  dislike  to  be  considered  "  crea- 
tions." As  the  famous  Ladj  Ashburton  declared: 
"  We  don't  like  the  honors  that  are  earned."  A 
still  more  important  personage  is  said  not  long  ago 
to  have  exclaimed :  "  The  Garter  is  almost  the 
only  distinction  left  that  those  fellows  of  talent  can- 
not gain."  It  is  usually  conferred  on  persons  of  at 
least  the  rank  of  duke,  and  rarely  with  any  refer- 
ence to  ability  or  character.  It  is  one  of  the  honors 
that  are  not  "  earned." 


IV. 

PRIMOGENITURE. 

The  aristocracy  in  England  not  only  monopo- 
lizes the  highest  social  honors  of  the  kingdom,  it 
possesses  one-fifth  of  the  soil,  and  is  master  of  the 
time  and  services  of  immense  numbers  of  the  popu- 
lation, millions  of  whom  live  upon  its  estates  or 
occupy  its  tenements,  from  the  hovels  of  Killarney 
to  the  mansions  of  Belgravia.  Although  of  late 
years  the  nobility  has  declined  in  political  power,  it 
still  retains  an  important  influence.  One  House  of 
Parliament  is  composed  exclusively  of  its  members, 
and  more  than  half  the  highest  offices  of  every 
Government  are  taken  from  its  body.  It  fills  a 
large  proportion  of  the  best  places  in  the  Church, 
the  army  and  the  navy,  and  in  diplomacy.  It  con- 
stitutes, with  those  whom  it  draws  about  it,  and, 
directly  or  indirectly,  influences  and  controls,  what 
are  called,  and  coiTectly,  the  governing  classes  of 
England. 

The  outward  splendor  of  the  peers  may  be  imag- 
ined from  the  advice  of  the  Shah  of  Persia  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales.     That  Eastern  potentate  had  been 


PKIMOGENITUKE,  43 

entertained  by  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  at  one  of 
his  estates,  where  the  grounds  and  mansions  were 
probably  more  palatial  than  any  the  royal  savage 
had  ever  seen ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  declared  to 
the  Heir  Apparent :  "  I  should  behead  that  duke. 
He  is  too  magnificent  for  a  subject."  Something 
of  the  same  sort,  thougli  probably  not  carried  so 
far,  must  have  been  in  Her  Majesty's  mind  some 
years  ago ;  for,  as  she  M'as  quitting  a  ball  at  Stafford 
House,  another  residence  of  the  same  nobleman, 
the  sovereign  said  to  the  duchess :  "  I  shall  leave 
your  palace  and  go  home  to  my  house." 

In  order  to  retain  its  importance,  the  aristocracy 
must  be  kept  small  in  numbers,  and  this  is  accom- 
plished by  the  infliction  of  immense  wrongs  upon 
the  greater  portion  of  its  own  members.  Only  one 
child  can  inherit  the  principal  honors  and  posses- 
sions of  the  family.  All  the  others  are  of  inferior 
rank  and  consequence  from  their  birth.  In  the  en- 
forcement of  this  rule  the  English  aristocracy  is 
more  rigorous  than  any  other  in  the  world.  The 
continental  titles  descend  for  the  most  part  to  all 
the  children,  and  whole  families  continue  noble  for 
centuries.  But  the  English  maintain  the  impor- 
tance of  a  house  by  the  sacrifice  of  all  its  sons  and 
daughters  to  the  head.  Even  the  wife  of  one  peer 
and  the  mother  of  another  is  immolated  on  the 
altar  of  family  pride.  A  woman  who  has  been  a 
duchess  abdicates  when  her  son  comes  to  his  title. 


44  AEISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

she  bands  over  the  family  jewels  to  her  successor,  is 
turned  out  of  the  mansion  where  she  once  presided, 
and  although  she  retains  the  title  of  duchess,  it  is 
with  the  prefix  of  dowager,  to  indicate  her  fallen 
state ;  while  the  brothers  and  sisters,  bred  in  luxury 
and  splendor  in  their  father's  house,  descend  in  one 
day  to  comparative  indigence  and  insignificance. 
The  brother  thinks  nothing  of  requiring  them  to 
leave,  and  they  accept  their  fate  as  inevitable. 
They  have  always  known  it  was  to  come,  and  are, 
perhaps,  somewhat  prepared  for  their  downfall. 

A  nobleman  now  living  is  very  generally  cen- 
sured because,  having  no  sons,  he  has  settled  his 
unentailed  estates  upon  his  daughters,  who  thus 
will  inherit  fortunes  which  otherwise  would  have 
gone  to  his  successor  in  the  peerage.  It  is  consid- 
ered that  he  had  no  right  to  divert  the  estates  away 
from  the  title,  both  having  descended  to  him  from 
the  same  ancestor.  Even  he,  however,  settled  the 
bulk  of  his  property  on  one  daughter,  leaving  the 
other  comparatively  poor. 

Circumstances  and  conditions  Hke  these  neces- 
sarily have  an  unhappy  efi^ect  upon  the  family  re- 
lation. There  cannot  but  be  heart-burnings  and 
discontent  at  the  unnatural  inequalities  of  fortune 
in  a  single  household.  The  disparity  between  the 
deference  paid  to  one  brother  by  guests  and  ser- 
vants, equals  and  dependants,  and  the  indifference 
shown  to  another  cannot  but  be  galling  to  him  who 


PRIMOGENITURE.  45 

is  set  aside.  The  eldest  son,  even  in  cliildhood, 
knows  that  all  is  for  him,  that  he  is  the  superior. 
The  younger  children  are  early  taught  that  they 
are  only  sojourners  in  their  father's  house,  while 
their  brother  is  a  noble  by  birth,  the  future  master 
and  the  head  of  the  family.  The  next  heir  can 
hardly  mourn  very  deeply  if  his  elder  brother  dies, 
and  there  must  "be  times  when  terrible  temptations 
arise.  A  duke  once  said  to  a  friend  of  mine,  as  his 
only  son,  a  child  of  three  years  old,  was  taken  out 
of  the  room :  "  There  goes  my  natural  enemy." 

I  remember  the  son  of  an  earl  talking  to  me  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  of  the  lot  of  the  younger  members 
of  a  great  family.  He  said  he  was  repelled  by  the 
mothers  whom  he  met  in  society  as  if  he  had  the 
plague,  lest  he  should  fall  in  love  with  their  daugh- 
ters. He  was  to  take  his  place  almost  without  the 
sphere  in  which  he  had  been  born.  He  supposed 
he  should  become  a  steward  on  some  nobleman's 
estate,  or  j^erhaps  manage  for  his  brother  the  proi> 
erty  to  which  he  was  as  much  attached  as  the  one 
who  was  to  inherit  all.  But  he  suddenly  checked 
himself,  and  declared  that  not  for  the  world  would 
he  have  it  otherwise;  nothing  would  compensate 
for  the  ruin  of  the  old  English  families.  The 
youngster  was  handsome,  well-mannered,  and  evi- 
dently in  love  with  some  girl  beyond  his  reach. 
He  was  cleverer  by  far  than  the  man  who  would 
become  the  chief  of  his  house,  better  fitted  to  bear 


46  ARISTOCRACY   m    ENGLAND. 

the  honors,  but  the  accident  of  birth  had  inter- 
vened. It  did  not  seem  to  him  so  great  good  for- 
tune to  be  the  son  of  an  earl — so  near  the  pme,  and 
yet  excluded  from  the  race. 

]^evertheless,  the  cadets  of  great  houses  are 
better  off  than  if  the  aristocracy  did  not  exist ; 
better  off  than  if  they  were  humbler  born.  The 
sons  and  brothers  of  peers  enjoy  enormous  advan- 
tages at  the  start.  They  have  a  high  place  in 
society,  powerful  friends,  prestige,  and  sometimes 
opportunities  to  marry  well,  in  spite  of  the  dow- 
agers. As  a  rule  they  are  placed  in  the  army  or 
the  Church,  or  pushed  in  politics  or  diplomacy,  or 
possibly  the  law.  Of  late  years,  it  is  true,  they 
have  begun  to  take  to  trade,  and  there  are  sons  of 
dukes  who  are  "  in  tea."  But  this  is  not  approved 
of  in  society,  and  aristocrats  are  not  often  reduced 
to  such  extremity. 

After  all,  it  is  the  mothers  and  daughters  whose 
fate  is  most  deplorable.  Nothing  in  the  whole 
system  is  so  barbaric  as  the  treatment  of  the 
women.  Nothing  is  more  pitiable  than  the  lot  of 
ladies  delicately  reared,  accustomed  from  childhood 
to  profusion  and  magnificence,  and  suddenly  re- 
duced to  a  pittance  for  an  income.  The  daughters 
of  a  ducal  house,  the  annual  revenues  of  which 
cannot  be  less  than  a  million  of  dollars,  receive  at 
their  marriage,  portions  that  do  not  amount  to 
$3,000  a  year;  and  this  is  considered  a  generous 


PKIMOGENrrHRE.  47 

provision.  I  know  a  ladj  of  less  degree  whose 
allowance  from  her  fatiier's  estate  is  £200  a  year, 
while  her  brother's  is  £10,000.  For  these  unfort- 
nnates  there  is  only  one  escape  from  comparative 
and  often  absolute  poverty,  and  that  is  marriage. 
This  is  what  makes  the  marriage  market  of  London 
such  a  by-word.  A  well-known  peeress,  famous 
for  the  matrimonial  successes  of  her  daughters,  is 
called  in  aristocratic  circles  "professional."  The 
men  declare  it  unfair  in  her  to  compete  with  ama- 
teurs, and  I  heard  one  of  her  acquaintances  say 
that  he  was  present  the  night  she  "  caught  York." 

These  high-born  women  must  find  husbands,  or 
become  enforced,  and  often  unwelcome,  pensioners 
on  the  bounty  of  brothers  or  more  distant  relatives. 
Then  there  is  the  mother,  the  great  lady,  super- 
seded sometimes,  not  by  the  wife  of  her  son,  which 
would  be  more  tolerable,  but  by  some  far-off  cousin 
or  life-long  enemy.  The  dower-house  is  prepared, 
the  dowry  is  paid,  and  she  goes  to  her  social  suttee. 

And  it  will  not  do  to  suppose  that  the  head  of 
a  great  family  is  always  ready  to  assemble  his 
relations  about  him,  always  willing  to  invite  their 
visits  or  offer  them  homes.  "When  a  man  comes 
into  his  titles  and  possessions  he  usually  has  his 
own  wife  and  his  own  children  to  care  for.  The 
wife  is  indifferent  to  his  kindred,  and  the  new  peer 
often  forgets  or  ignores  them  altogether.  The 
brothers  and  sisters  and  cousins  of  the  master  are 


48  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

hardly  the  most  frequent  visitors  in  great  English 
houses ;  inmates  thej  are  more  rarely  still.  And 
when  they  are  received  they  are  careful  not  to  pre- 
sume too  far.  They  all  look  meekly  up  to  their 
chief;  they  are  proud  to  be  connected  with  him, 
happy  to  accept  his  invitations  and  his  charities. 
They  are  retainers  and  dependents,  and  there  is  and 
can  be  no  equality  between  them,  as  a  rule. 

Of  course,  there  are  many  families  united  by  the 
warmest  and  purest  regard.  There  are  parents 
who  insure  their  lives  and  economize  their  incomes 
in  order  to  secure  the  independence  of  their 
younger  children.  There  are  great  houses  in 
which  the  chief  considers  himself  bound  to  provide 
for  and  assist  the  cadets.  The  present  Duke  of 
Bedford,  when  he  came  into  millions,  settled  on 
each  of  his  brothers  fifty  thousand  pounds.  But 
conduct  such  as  this  is  not  the  rule,  and  if  it  were, 
the  influence  of  the  institution  remains,  whatever 
the  merit  of  the  individual. 

That  influence  makes  the  father  lavish  pride  and 
affection  and  interest  on  the  favored  one,  while 
even  the  mother,  anticipating,  perhaps,  the  time 
when  he  will  be  the  arbiter  of  her  fate,  is  careful 
not  to  thwart  him  in  favor  of  her  younger  children. 
That  influence  makes  the  heir  not  seldom  selfish, 
self-sufiicient,  over-bearing,  and  all  the  others  sub- 
servient, or  envious  and  dissatisfied.  It  makes 
marriages  for  money,  among  both  men  and  women. 


PRIMOGENTTUBE.  49 

common,  and  not  altogether  inexcusable.  It  made 
one  duke  regard  his  eldest  son  as  his  "  natural 
enemy." 

Primogeniture,  however,  in  England,  is  matter 
of  law.  It  cannot  be  avoided.  If  a  man  is  born  a 
peer,  he  must  remain  a  peer,  whether  he  likes  it  or 
no.  He  cannot  be  divested  of  the  dignity,  even 
though  he  may  not  choose  to  claim  the  title.  In 
1796  the  Earl  of  Berkeley  mamed  a  dairymaid, 
a  previous  marriage  with  whom  was  declared  by 
the  House  of  Lords  "  not  proven,"  so  that  the  chil- 
dren, born  prior  to  1796,  could  not  inherit.  The 
son  hrst  born  after  that  date  was  of  course  the  heir ; 
but  he  refused  to  assume  a  title  that  reflected  on  his 
mother's  fame — an  act  of  chivalry  seldom  surpassed 
in  the  annals  of  any  nobility.  He  died  not  long 
ago,  having  been  known  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury as  the  "  Honorable  Mr.  Berkeley,"  though 
legally  he  was  the  sixth  earl.  But  the  title  and 
honors  descended  to  his  heirs.  He  could  not  divert 
the  succession.  J^obility  is  in  the  blood,  and  noth- 
ing but  an  attainder  can  corrupt  the  quality. 

Thus,  distant  descendants  may  claim  a  long-for- 
gotten birthright,  and  titles  and  honors  supposed 
extinct  for  centuries  may  be  revived.  The  earldom 
of  Devon  had  remained  dormant  from  1566  until 
1831,  when  the  heir,  who  was  a  clerk  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  engaged  in  examining  the  records,  dis- 
covered the  original  patent  of  the  peerage.  In 
4 


50  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

ordinary  cases  the  title  descends  to  the  heirs  male 
"  of  the  body  "  of  the  original  patentee ;  but  in  this 
instance  the  words  "  of  the  body  "  did  not  occur. 
The  title,  therefore,  descended  to  the  heirs  collat- 
eral, when  those  of  the  body  became  extinct.  The 
last  earl  had  died  without  issue  in  the  reign  of 
Bloody  Mary  (or,  as  the  English  more  reverently 
style  her,  Mary  I.),  and  the  title  and  honors  were 
supposed  to  be  extinct.  But  when  the  patent  was 
found  the  clerk  of  the  Parliament  was  able  to  prove 
his  descent  in  the  collateral  line,  and  was  declared 
the  lawful  Earl  of  Devon  after  two  hundred  and 
sixty  years.  Meanwhile,  the  head  of  the  family 
had  been  created  a  baronet,  but,  disdaining  the  in- 
ferior title,  he  never  took  out  his  patent.  Never- 
theless, he  was  always  styled  Sir  William  in  com- 
missions from  the  King,  and  his  son  was  the  second 
baronet.  The  antiquity  of  the  family  indeed  reached 
back  beyond  the  earldom.  Edward  I.  was  a  legiti- 
mate ancestor,  and  Gibbon  turns  aside  to  record 
their  history  while  reciting  the  fate  of  the  Roman 
empire. 

But  though  titles  must  descend  according  to 
the  rule  of  primogeniture,  the  land  can  be  entailed 
for  three  lives  only.  If  a  man  dies  without  a  will, 
his  real  estate  falls  to  his  eldest  son,  but  a  number 
of  sudden  deaths  might  prevent  the  heirs  of  impor- 
tant families  from  succeeding  to  the  property.  But 
titles  without  wealth  would  be  barren  honors ;  and 


PEIMOGENITUKE.  51 

to  secure  the  all-important  connection  of  property 
with  rank  a  device  has  been  contrived  to  which  tlie 
aristocracy  habitually  resort,  in  evasion  of  the  in- 
tention of  the  law.  When  the  eldest  son  of  a  peer 
or  important  commoner  marries,  the  custom  is  for 
the  father  and  the  son  to  unite  in  making  an  entail 
for  their  own  lives  and  the  life  of  the  unborn  son  of 
the  living  heir.  Thus  every  ordinary  successor  is 
born  a  tenant  for  life ;  he  cannot  himself  alienate 
the  property,  and  when  he  arrives  at  his  majority 
he  is  ready  in  his  turn  to  unite  with  his  father  to 
maintain  the  family  dignity  and  provide  for  the 
greatness  of  one  unborn  child  at  the  expense  of  all 
the  others. 

It  is  this  principle  of  primogeniture,  thus  secured, 
which  is  at  the  basis  of  all  the  importance  of 
the  English  aristocracy.  Without  it  the  nobility 
would  promptly  lose  its  pre-eminence.  If  all  the 
descendants  of  a  nobleman  continued  noble,  the 
number  would  soon  be  so  great  that  nobility  would 
be  no  distinction.  If  all  the  children  shared  the 
wealth,  the  properties  would  be  divided  and  sub- 
divided till  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  the 
peerage  would  disappear.  It  is  because  cue  man 
inherits  all  that  tlie  grandeur  is  permanent ;  be- 
cause the  heir  has  a  quarter  of  a  million  a  year,  and 
his  brother  less  than  a  thousand  pounds,  that  the 
family  dignity  is  maintained.  When  primogen- 
iture is  abolished  the  aristocracy  will  be  near  its  fall. 


PRECEDENCE. 

Primogenittire  is  the  foundation  on  which  the 
aristocracy  is  established,  and  the  prop  by  which  it 
is  sustained ;  but  precedence  is  the  capital  and 
crown  of  the  edifice,  the  outward  and  visible  sign 
by  which  as  much  as  by  pomp  and  show,  the  nobility 
asserts  its  superiority.  For  whoever  acquires  wealth, 
by  whatever  means,  can  of  course  command  houses, 
estates,  and  retinues,  and  all  the  varied  paraphernalia 
of  luxury  and  display;  but  in  England  all  this, 
without  precedence,  profiteth  nothing.  All  the  rest, 
to  the  ambitious  aspirant,  is  but  sounding  brass  and 
tinkling  cymbals. 

Precedence  is  not  a  matter  of  courtesy,  nor  often 
of  me)"e  custom,  however  ancient ;  it  is  the  subject 
of  absolute  law.  Its  violation  is  actionable.  One 
person  is  by  law  entitled  to  go  before  another  per- 
son. The  precedence  of  every  individual  of  rank 
in  the-  kingdom  is  regulated  either  by  express 
statute,  by  letters  patent,  or  by  the  common  law. 
You  will  find  it  all  set  down  in  Blackstone  and  his 
successors.     An  earl  of  England  goes  before  an  earl 


PBECEDENCE.  53 

of  Scotland.  A  viscount's  eldest  son  precedes  an 
earl's  younger  sons.  The  daughters  of  a  nobleman 
outrank  the  wives  of  the  younger  sons  of  the  same 
peer.  The  intricacy  is  involved  in  the  last  degree, 
and  when  a  woman  of  quality  gives  a  dinner  she 
often  consults  the  books  to  settle  the  places  of  her 
company.  For  the  married  daughters  of  an  earl 
must  not  be  put  before  the  unmarried  daughters  of 
a  duke,  nor  the  daughter  of  a  peer  of  later  creation 
before  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  same  rank  whose 
creation  is  earlier.  These  are  the  ladies,  a  little 
distant  from  the  sun,  who  insist  most  rigorously 
upon  their  reflected  glories.  Precedence,  poor 
things,  is  all  they  have  at  times,  and  you  cannot 
expect  them  to  yield  it  readily. 

There  is,  however,  one  result  of  the  rage  for  rank 
that  is  refreshing.  The  precedence  of  the  younger 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  nobility  continues 
through  life.  It  matters  not  how  poor  they  may 
become,  their  place  and  their  titles  remain  ;  so  that 
mere  wealth  cannot  elbow  aside  the  distinction  that 
comes  from  lineage.  No  rich  upstart  can  precede 
the  broken-down  woman  of  birth,  and  the  fact  that 
poverty  and  privation  may  coexist  with  even  exalted 
rank  depreciates  the  undue  influence  of  mammon. 
The  poor  aristocrats  can  never  lose  their  conse- 
quence in  a  society  where  a  title  may  come  to  them 
suddenly  by  the  death  of  a  distant  relative ;  and  the 
mother  of  a  possible  duke  must  always  be  important 


54  AKISTOCKACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

to  families  whose  daughters  he  may  one  day  deign 
to  ennoble. 

For  these  potentates  of  the  peerage  can  many 
whom  they  please,  and  their  wives  step  into  the 
grade  beside  themselves.  The  Marquis  of  Salisbury 
is  descended  from  the  famous  Lord  Burleigh,  so 
that  his  family  has  been  noble  since  the  time  of 
Elizabeth,  but  he  married  the  daughter  of  a  lawyer. 
The  wife  afterward  became  intimate  with  a  peeress 
more  highly  descended  even  than  the  late  Premier. 
I  asked  this  lady  once  whether  her  friend  was  of 
family  that  entitled  her,  according  to  English  no- 
tions, to  so  grand  an  alliance ;  and  she,  herself 
sprung  from  royal  Imes,  replied :  "  I  mean  to  say 
that  Lord  Salisbury  could  marry  whom  he  chose." 
As  Marchioness  of  Salisbury  the  lawyer's  daughter 
took  precedence  of  her  high-born  friend. 

She  once  had  a  greater  triumph  still.  Many 
years  ago  her  husband  quarrelled  with  Lord  Bea- 
consfield,  but  in  1874,  when  the  Tories  returned  to 
power,  it  was  found  impossible  for  Beaconsfield  to 
form  a  cabinet  unless  the  two  were  reconciled. 
Great  efforts  were  therefore  made  to  bring  them 
together.  But  Lord  Salisbury  was  stubborn,  and 
the  same  peeress  assured  me  that  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough  literally  went  on  her  knees  to  Lady 
Salisbury  and  implored  her  to  persuade  her  husband 
to  serve  under  his  enemy.  Lady  Salisbury  was  won. 
Lord    Salisbury   consented,   and,    as   a  result,   he 


PRECEDENCE.  55 

became  Prime  Minister  of  England  ;  for  had  he  not 
submitted  to  Beaconsfield,  he  never  would  have 
succeeded  him. 

Precedence  is  a  subject  of  so  much  consequence 
that  no  tribunal  below  the  crown  can  be  trusted  to 
determine  its  finer  points,  and  the  difficult  ques- 
tions are  referred  in  the  last  resort  to  the  Queen, 
whose  fiat  in  these  matters  is  irreversible.  Her 
Majesty  fully  realizes  the  importance  of  the  prerog- 
ative, one  of  the  few  she  yet  retains  in  all  its  ancient 
plenitude,  and  devotes  her  best  abilities  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  justice  in  so  grave  a  cause.  But  even 
into  royal  minds  partiaJity  will  sometimes  penetrate, 
and  when  her  own  family  is  concerned,  the  decisions 
of  the  sovereign  have  not  always  been  received 
without  suspicion  of  favor.  She  gave  great  offence 
by  insisting  that  the  Prince  Consort  should  go 
before  the  Prince  of  Wales ;  and,  had  her  husband 
lived,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  English  would  have 
submitted  to  the  regulation.  The  future  king  should 
have  preceded  his  father,  by  all  the  unnatural  rules 
of  rank  and  royalty.  More  recently  still  Her  Maj- 
esty has  outraged  the  feelings,  not  only  of  her  own 
nobility,  but  of  the  reigning  fjimilies  of  Europe,  by 
conferring  the  title  of  Koyal  Highness  on  the  hus- 
band of  her  daughter  Beatrice,  when  he  has  a  right 
only  to  be  called  "  Serene." 

Precedence  is  a  question  that  comes  up  constantly 
in  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  aristocracy;  once  a  day. 


56  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

at  least,  to  everybody,  for  everybody  must  dine, 
and  everybody  goes  to  dinner  according  to  degree. 
I  have  seen  at  German  watering-places  English 
women  of  birth,  sisters  and  sisters-in-law,  as  punc- 
tilious in  yielding  and  taking  place  at  a  table  cTJiote 
as  if  they  had  been  at  court.  The  last  night  I  dined 
in  England  two  earls  were  leaving  the  room  to- 
gether, and  as  the  one  whose  rank  was  more  recent 
held  back  for  his  senior,  he  said  laughingly,  but 
he  meant  it  all  the  same :  "  I  must  not  go  before 
my  betters." 

Americans,  even,  may  become  involved  in  the 
labyrinthine  mysteries.  An.  American  envoy  was 
once  visiting  at  a  famous  house  where  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  the  county  was  also  a  guest,  and  the 
hostess  went  to  dinner,  according  to  rule,  with  the 
minister.  But  at  this  the  wife  of  the  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant was  up  in  arms;  she  searched  the  books  and 
declared  that  her  husband  represented  the  Queen, 
and  therefore  should  precede  a  foreign  minister. 
The  gentlemen  staying  at  the  house  also  looked  up 
the  authorities,  but  disagreed  with  her.  Still  she 
remained  dissatisfied,  until  finally  the  hostess  went 
to  the  minister  and  begged  him,  in  order  to  pacify 
the  punctilious  peeress,  to  allow  the  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant to  precede  him  for  a  single  night ;  and  the 
American  was  amiable,  and  waived  his  privilege. 
I  think  I  said  that  precedence  is  not  controlled  by 
courtesy. 


PRECEDENCE.  57 

Another  time  it  was  the  minister's  wife  who  in- 
sisted on  her  prerogative.  For  Americans  who  live 
in  this  atmosphere  are  susceptible  to  the  influence. 
One  of  our  representatives  was  staying  at  a  ducal 
house,  and  the  first  night  the  duke  took  in  the  min- 
ister's wife  to  dinner ;  but  the  next  night,  to  vary 
or  divide  his  courtesies,  he  offered  his  arai  to  an- 
other lady,  whereat  the  minister's  wife  was  wroth, 
and,  being  the  head  of  her  own  family,  she  insisted 
on  leaving  the  house,  and  the  democratic  envoy  cut 
short  his  visit  because  his  wife  was  not  taken  in 
every  night  at  the  head  of  the  company. 

These  difiiculties  extend  into  the  loftiest  regions. 
The  Viceroy  of  Ireland  represents  Her  Majesty, 
and  during  his  term  has  precedence  even  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  It  is  said  that  the  Heir  Apparent 
dislikes  to  visit  Ireland  because  he  is  unwilHng  to 
follow  the  Yiceroy.  This  functionary,  indeed,  has 
a  little  court  of  his  own,  where,  as  in  all  provincial 
circles,  the  etiquette  is  stiffer  than  in  grander 
spheres.  When  the  Yiceroy  dines  out  everybody 
rises  as  he  enters  the  room,  and  when  the  ladies 
leave  the  table  each  approaches  and  makes  him  in 
turn  the  courtesy  that  is  due  to  royalty.  Even  his 
wife  must  do  this  in  public,  though  I  doubt  if  she 
does  it  at  home. 

I  have  known  earls  take  their  own  daughters  to 
table,  because  these  were  of  higher  rank  than  any 
one  else  in  the  room ;  and  at  royal  houses  the  hosts 


58  AKISTOCEACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

invariably  precede  their  guests,  unless  the  guests 
themselves  are  royal.  I  have  even  seen  a  child  go 
in  to  dinner  at  the  head  of  a  distinguished  company. 
At  a  country-house  where  a  foreign  minister  and  his 
wife  were  guests,  the  host  had  not  returned  from 
the  hunting-field  in  time  for  dinner.  There  were 
several  members  of  the  Government  present,  men 
of  title  and  consideration  in  English  circles ;  but 
the  ladies  of  the  family  sent  to  the  school-room  for 
the  eldest  son,  a  boy  of  thirteen,  to  represent  his 
father,  and  he,  as  a  viscount,  took  precedence  of  all 
the  gentlemen  present,  and  ofiered  his  arm  to  the 
wife  of  the  minister. 

As  a  rule,  scant  deference  is  shown  to  Americans 
in  this  matter  of  precedence.  ISTeitber  hospitality 
nor  courtesy  is  said  to  be  in  question,  but  the  law. 
Now,  the  law  may  be  very  well  for  Englishmen,  by 
whom  and  for  whom  it  was  made,  but  it  can  hardly 
apply  to  foreigners  who  are  neither  referred  to  in 
its  provisions  nor  comprehended  in  its  denomina- 
tions or  degrees.  The  English,  however,  habitually 
apply  their  own  rules  and  their  own  ideas  on  every 
subject  to  everybody  else.  They  recognize  neither 
military,  nor  literary,  nor  even  political  distinction 
among  themselves  when  there  is  question  of  rank  ; 
a  general  goes  behind  his  own  aid-de-camp  if  the 
latter  is  a  lord  and  the  general  is  not ;  the  greatest 
writer  in  the  land.  Browning  or  Froude,  or,  until 
the  other  day,  Tennyson,  would  be  preceded  by  any 


PRECEDENCE.  59 

blockhead  of  a  baron;  and  the  Prime  Minister,  if 
a  commoner,  gives  way  to  peers  of  his  own  creation. 
So,  American  gentlemen,  and  ladies  too,  of  what- 
ever consideration  at  home,  are  usually  sent  to  the 
foot  of  the  table,  because  they  possess  no  English 
titles.  European  dignities  are  recognized,  for  they 
correspond  to  those  in  the  English  peerage,  but  our 
imofficial  countrymen  do  not  usually  fare  so  well. 
Both  ex-President  Filhnore  and  ex-President  Pierce 
were  in  London  soon  after  the  expiration  of  their 
terms  of  office,  and  dined  at  different  times  with 
different  Ministers  for  Foreign  Affairs.  Each  was 
sent  to  table  without  a  lady  and  behind  the  rest  of 
the  company.  They  were  plain  gentlemen,  it  was 
said,  and,  "if  the  Americans  give  their  ex-Presi- 
dents no  rank,  why  should  we  ? "  General  Grant, 
it  is  true,  except  in  one  conspicuous  instance,  was 
given  precedence  of  everybody  in  England  below 
the  royal  family,  but  his  case  had  neither  parallel 
nor  precedent. 

There  are,  however,  English  houses  where  simply 
as  strangers  the  place  of  honor  is  given  to  Ameri- 
cans. This  is,  of  course,  among  people  who  have 
seen  much  of  the  world,  and  discovered  that  even 
in  civilized  nations  usages  may  exist  different  from 
those  of  England,  and  that  persons  of  consequence 
can  be  found  in  other  countries  who  yet  are  not  the 
bearers  of  English  titles.  The  greater  the  house 
the  greater  the  consideration  an  American  is  likely 


60  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

to  receive.  If  he  dines  with  a  duke,  the  chances 
are  that  he  will  go  in  with  the  duchess ;  if  the  host 
is  a  recent  arrival  in  the  great  world,  he  may  have 
no  lady,  and  will  probably  enter  last. 

But  the  rule  does  not  always  hold.  I  was  dining 
once  with  a  woman  of  rank  who  was  also  a  per- 
sonal friend.  The  company  included  two  marquises, 
one  of  whom  was  a  cousin  of  the  hostess  and  a  man 
of  cosmopolitan  breeding.  Before  dinner  this  no- 
bleman came  up  to  me  and  said : 

"  I  have  been  telling  my  cousin  that  you  ought 
to  take  her  in,  but  she  says  '  No ; '  she  likes  you 
very  well,  but  you  can't  go  before  a  marquis.  I  in- 
sisted that,  as  a  foreigner  and  an  oflScial,  you  should 
precede ;  but  she  will  not  yield." 

Mr.  Lecky,  the  historian,  was  present,  and  I  was 
then  new  in  English  society ;  so,  with  all  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  republican,  I  replied : 

"  Mr.  Lecky  is  the  most  distinguished  man  in  the 
room.     Shouldn't  he  take  Lady  Mary  ? " 

But  the  liberal  marquis  at  once  exclaimed : 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Lecky  is  an  Englishman.  He  must 
take  his  place." 

So  Lady  Mary  went  in  with  a  vapid  youth  of 
twenty-two,  because  he  was  a  marquis,  and  the 
most  eminent  person  at  dinner  had  no  lady,  and 
went  last. 


VI. 
THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 

I  SHALL  never  forget  the  scene  in  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral when  the  highest  personages  in  England  were 
gathered  to  attend  the  Thanksgiving  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  Prince  of  Wales  from  a  serious  ill- 
ness. The  immense  building  was  crowded  to  its  ut- 
most capacity.  Kave  and  choir  and  aisles,  and  even 
galleries  erected  for  the  occasion,  were  thronged 
with  patricians  and  functionaries  of  importance ; 
clergymen  and  prelates  and  lawyers  and  judges  in 
their  gowns ;  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  full 
uniform ;  peers  and  the  eldest  sons  of  peers  and 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  levee  dress. 
Every  one  was  in  his  place  by  nine  o'clock,  and  the 
doors  were  closed  hours  before  the  Queen  arrived. 
The  great  space  under  the  dome  was  allotted  to 
members  of  Parliament  and  the  diplomatic  corps, 
and  in  the  centre  of  this  area  a  dais  had  been 
erected,  covered  with  crimson  cloth  and  ruled  oft' 
with  gilded  bars  to  form  a  sort  of  pew.  The  floor 
of  this  structure  was  so  high  that  its  occupants  stood 
with  their  feet  on  a  level  with  the  heads  of  the 


62  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

peers  and  the  members  of  the  Government,  and 
into  the  pew  thus  raised  the  Queen  and  the  royal 
family  were  ushered,  every  one  in  the  edifice  rising. 
The  son  of  an  earl  shook  up  the  cushions,  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  thanked  God  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  England  for  the  recovery  of 
the  young  man  of  twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine, 
who,  with  his  mother  and  brother  and  sisters,  knelt 
above  the  heads  of  the  nobility  and  the  Govern- 
ment. 

But  this  enforced  prostration  of  all  the  distinction 
and  dignity  of  England  at  the  very  feet  of  the  royal 
family  in  the  house  of  God  was  the  merest  of  mock- 
eries. The  Queen  herself  is  only  the  shadow  of  a 
potentate,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  insignificant 
in  everything  but  ceremony.  An  absolute  absti- 
nence from  politics  is  dictated  by  the  nation,  not 
only  to  the  sovereign,  but  to  the  entire  reigning 
family.  It  is  not  thought  proper  for  the  Prince  of 
Wales  to  signify  a  preference  for  either  party  in  the 
State.  He  holds  his  place  on  condition  that  he 
makes  no  effort  to  influence  affairs ;  he  must  be  as 
gracious  to  a  Conservative  minister  as  to  a  Liberal ; 
he  must  take  sides  neither  for  nor  against  any  prom- 
inent measure.  The  pill  is  gilded  by  the  assurance 
that  he  belongs  to  the  whole  country,  and  not  to  a 
part ;  that  he  is  above  the  strife  of  factions,  and  too 
great  to  be  interested  in  intrigues  for  place.  All  of 
which  may  be  true,  but  it  leaves  him  a  vapid  and 


THE    PRINCE   OF   WALES.  63 

meaningless   life,  devoted  to  forms  and  filled  up 
with  frivolities. 

Tlie  Queen,  indeed,  goes  through  the  ceremonies 
of  authority  ;  she  holds  privy  councils  and  receives 
ambassadors ;  and,  if  not  present  at  cabinet  meet- 
ings, the  result  of  them  is  usually  announced  to  her 
before  it  is  made  known  to  the  world  at  large.  She 
reads  despatches,  and  still,  at  times,  discusses  meas- 
ures of  importance  with  the  Prime  Minister.  But 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  future  King,  is  never  sum- 
moned to  her  counsels.  She  seems  to  revenge  her- 
self on  him  for  the  exclusion  from  power  inflicted 
on  herself.  There  is  no  pretence  of  consulting  him. 
He  can  hardly  be  familiar  with  the  forms  in  which 
he  must  one  day  bear  a  part,  or,  so  far  as  practice 
goes,  with  the  principles  by  which  he  must  be 
guided.  He  will  come  to  the  throne  as  utterly  un- 
accustomed to  its  graver  duties  as  his  own  son,  if  at 
any  moment  both  Queen  and  Prince  of  Wales  were 
suddenly  to  die.  Opportunities  for  observation,  of 
course,  he  shares  with  everybody  in  the  kingdom ; 
good  sense  he  has  not  often  seemed  to  lack ;  appre- 
ciation of  the  difficulties  and  delicacies  of  his  politi-' 
cal  situation  he  has  repeatedly  displayed  to  a  greater 
degree  than  the  Queen ;  but  the  absolute  experience 
which  he  might  have  acquired  had  he,  the  imme- 
diate heir  to  the  throne,  a  man  of  more  than  forty 
years,  been  summoned  to  the  royal  side  in  inter- 
views with  ministers,  or  consultations  such  as  must 


64  ARISTOCRACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

occur  under  even  a  constitutional  monarchy  be- 
tween sovereign  and  statesmen — of  this  he  has  been 
altogether  deprived. 

Whether  it  is  the  ordinary  jealousy  of  a  monarch 
for  an  heir,  which  has  prevailed  against  the  wiadoni 
of  a  ruler  and  the  partiality  of  a  parent,  or  some 
other  cause,  I  never  heard ;  but  the  fact  remains, 
that  the  Prince  of  Wales  has  had  no  opportunity  to 
learn  from  his  mother  the  lessons  in  practical  sov- 
ereignty which  the  Queen  herself  received  from  her 
sagacious  consort,  or  has  acquired  from  the  experi- 
ence of  nearly  half  a  century. 

This  is  unfortunate  for  the  Prince  himself,  for  the 
country,  and  for  the  ministers  who  may  hereafter 
have  to  deal  with  him.  I  once  asked  a  prominent 
Englishman  what  would  happen  if  a  prince  should 
come  to  the  throne,  ambitious  at  once  and  able,  de- 
termined to  rule  as  well  as  to  reign.  My  friend  at 
first  answered  evasively  that  tliere  was  no  danger 
of  the  conjuncture  under  the  present  family;  but 
when  I  pressed  him  furtlier,  he  admitted  that,  in 
such  an  event,  the  monarch,  if  he  persisted,  would 
lose  his  crown.  Nobody  tells  a  prince  such  things 
in  ordinary  conversation,  but  the  warning  might  be 
conveyed  if  he  were  present  when  the  Queen  is 
sometimes  delicately  informed  of  the  necessity  of 
subordinating  her  will  to  that  of  the  nation.  The 
Heir  Apparent  is  surrounded  by  servitors  and  court- 
iere,  always  bowing  and  backing  out  before  him,  till 


THE    PKLNCE    OF    WALES.  65 

he  might  easily  forget  the  emptiness  of  the  forms 
and  the  impotence  of  the  sway  to  which  he  will 
succeed ;  and  if  he  were  not  alive  to  the  reality,  a 
harsh  awakening  might  one  day  come  to  him. 

It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  His 
Royal  Highness  is  scrupulous  in  conforming  to  the 
political  necessities.  He  betrays  no  preferences,  ex- 
cept personal  ones,  to  which  he  has  a  right.  He  in- 
volves himself  in  no  difficulties  with  either  party  in 
politics,  he  makes  no  attempt  to  step  beyond  the 
limits  laid  down  for  him,  and  confines  himself 
strictly  to  the  ceremonious  and  arduous  life  of 
pleasure  and  parade  which  his  fate  and  his  mother 
have  decided  that  he  shall  lead.  It  is  often  said 
that  he  does  not  expect  to  succeed  to  the  throne, 
but  lives  in  dread  of  the  evil  day  that  has  come  to 
so  many  of  his  royal  relatives.  Apparently,  he  is 
determined  to  do  nothing  himself  to  precipitate  the 
political  deluge. 

Debarred  from  all  participation  in  affairs  of  state, 
he  has  become  a  great  authority  in  etiquette.  Both 
the  Queen  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  devote  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  this  great  science  with  a  fer- 
vor that  makes  it  the  important  business  of  their 
lives.  Perhaps  it  compensates  for  the  sacrifice  of 
higher  ambitions  ;  and  in  settling  points  of  preced- 
ence and  determining  questions  of  ceremony  they 
may  seem  to  themselves  to  retain  some  of  the 
prerogatives  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth.  The 
5 


66  AKISTOCKACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

Queen  corrects  the  court  circular  daily;  she  ar- 
ranges the  order  in  which  the  guests  sit  at  her 
table ;  she  supervises  the  invitation  lists  to  couit 
balls — at  which  she  never  is  present — and  the 
Prince  carefully  inspects  the  book  kept  at  his  gate, 
in  which  visitors  inscribe  their  names. 

Sometimes  the  royal  personages  do  not  agree  on 
points  of  this  high  consequence,  and  then  Her  Maj- 
esty asserts  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown.  You  can- 
not be  asked  to  the  Queen's  ball  unless  you  have 
been  at  court  the  same  year.  For  very  great  per- 
sonages the  rule  may  be  relaxed,  but  in  ordinary 
cases  it  is  immutable.  Once  upon  a  time,  however, 
a  fair  American  arrived  too  late  in  the  season  for  a 
drawing-room,  and,  in  spite  of  etiquette,  she  deter- 
mined to  go  to  a  ball.  But  the  American  Minister 
declined  to  ask  the  court  to  break  its  own  regula- 
tions, and  our  undaunted  countrywoman,  who  had 
met  the  Heir  Apparent  in  society,  applied  to  the 
Prince  himself.  His  Royal  Highness  likes  pretty 
women,  and  pretty  Americans  quite  as  well  as  any 
others ;  so  he  good-naturedly  promised  that  if  the 
American  Minister  would  make  the  request  the  in- 
vitation should  arrive.  But  when  this  was  announced 
to  the  wily  diplomatist  from  the  United  States,  that 
functionary  still  had  the  fear  of  the  court  before  his 
eyes,  and  with  the  art  of  a  Machiavelli  he  wrote  to 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  that,  "  at  the  instance  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  he  had  the  honor  to  apply,  etc." 


THE   PRINCE   OF   WALES.  67 

The  card  was  sent  and  tlie  importunate  Aiuericaii 
went  to  the  ball.  But  the  august  Queen  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  was  indignant  at  the  intVinge- 
ment  on  her  prerogative.  She  informed  the  heir 
to  the  throne  that  the  ball  was  her  ball,  not  his ; 
and  the  Prince  was  vexed  with  the  minister,  and 
the  minister  was  vexed  with  his  compatriot ;  and 
altogether  the  excitement  aroused  in  exalted  circles 
was  very  like  what  occurred  at  Olympus  when  Juno 
and  her  progeny  were  interested  in  the  affairs  of 
earth  and  the  gods  took  different  sides. 

The  lot  of  the  Prince  is  not  without  other  trials. 
Kobody  in  the  kingdom  is  harder  worked  or  under- 
goes mora  fatigue  of  a  certain  wearing  sort  than 
the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  in  a  less  de- 
gree the  other  members  of  the  reigning  family. 
They  are  not  only  deprived  of  all  privacy,  not  only 
always  in  the  world  and  before  the  world,  always 
attended  by  persons  of  consequence  and  exposed  to 
comment  and  criticism  from  fastidious  tastes  and 
censorious  tongues,  but  they  are  dragged  from  one 
ceremony  to  another,  from  a  gallery  to  a  hospital, 
from  a  levee  to  a  procession,  from  a  dinner  to  a  ball, 
till  life  must  often  become  a  weariness.  Yet  they 
must  never  fail  to  keep  an  engagement,  and  they 
are  bound  always  to  display  the  especial  "  politeness 
of  kings '' — punctuality.  They  must  be  civil  when 
they  are  worn  out,  and  gracious  when  they  are 
sleepy;  they  must  remember  the  names  and  faces 


68  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

of  the  tens  of  tliousands  to  whom  their  recognition 
is  an  honor ;  for  all  this  is  their  trade.  This  is  how 
they  earn  their  living.  And  they  play  their  part 
well.  They  are  trained  to  it  from  childhood.  They 
do  remember  people  ;  they  are  punctual  and  polite  ; 
all  of  which  should  be  borne  in  mind  when  people 
carp  and  criticise. 

The  Prince  is  personally  popular  among  those 
who  surround  him  closest.  His  invitations  are  an 
honor  as  well  as  a  command,  and  when  he  visits  a 
country-house  the  list  of  the  guests  who  are  to  meet 
Mm  is  submitted  for  his  inspection.  The  Princess 
does  not  always  accompany  her  consort  on  these 
occasions.  As  sometimes  happens  with  families  that 
are  not  royal,  there  are  houses  favored  by  the  hus- 
band which  the  wife  does  not  frequent,  though  not 
so  many  of  these  as  when  the  Prince  was  younger. 
They  both  seem  to  have  their  American  favorites. 
A  number  of  our  compatriots  have  been  asked,  not 
only  to  Marlborough  House,  but  to  Sandringham  ; 
but  it  must  be  owned  these  have  sometimes  been 
ladies  and  gentlemen  at  whose  success  Americans 
at  home  were  not  a  little  surprised.  The  Prince, 
however,  cares  nothing  for  the  social  antecedents  of 
his  transatlantic  friends.  He  cannot  distinguish  the 
delicate  gradations  in  a  democratic  society  so  visible 
to  some  of  the  democrats  themselves.  When  he  was 
told  by  a  Bostonian  whose  family  had  been  "  good" 
for  nearly  three   generations   that   the   American 


THE    PRINCE   OF    WALES.  69 

Minister  of  that  day  was  a  self-made  man,  the 
Prince  replied  to  the  aristocratic  republican :  "  I 
thought  you  were  all  self-made  in  America." 

Perhaps  the  Prince  is  not  to  be  blamed.  He  lives 
in  an  atmosphere  where  incense  is  constantly  offered 
him,  and  dukes  and  duchesses  prostrate  themselves 
before  the  royal  family  with  something  of  the  idea 
of  Bunthorne  in  "  Patience  ":  "  If  this  great  person- 
age is  too  great  for  me,  what  a  very  great  personage 
this  personage  must  be ! " 

For  the  reverence  shown  by  the  aristocracy  for 
royalty  is  greater  than  that  of  the  people  at  large. 
The  people  generally  know  very  little  about  royalty. 
The  Queen  secludes  herself,  and  the  other  members 
of  the  royal  family  live  so  far  apart  from  and  above 
the  multitude  tfiat  they  hardly  enter  its  thoughts. 
But  the  nobility  have  the  Queen  and  her  children 
constantly  in  mind.  They  must  go  to  levees  and 
drawing-rooms ;  they  are  invited  to  state  balls  and 
concerts.  The  personal  attendants  of  royalty  are 
taken  exclusively  from  the  aristocracy.  During 
the  London  season  the  members  of  the  aristocracy 
are  continually  meeting  the  royal  family,  and  con- 
stantly reminded  of  the  vast  difference  in  rank 
between  the  highest  of  themselves  and  the  Princes 
of  the  Blood. 

The  genuflections  they  must  make  in  the  pres- 
ence of  royalty ;  the  deference  in  tone  and  manner 
they  must  display  if  addressed  by  royalty ;  the  red 


70  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

carpet  that  must  be  laid  down  wlien  royalty  visits  a 
liouse ;  the  ceremonies  of  reception  and  departure ; 
the  separate  table  at  which  royalty  must  eat  at  great 
entertainments;  the  fact  that  one  should  not  leave 
a  room  until  royalty  chooses  to  do  so ;  that  one  can- 
not speak  first,  nor  broach  a  subject  of  conversation 
with  royal  personages ;  that  you  must  neither  pre- 
sent yourself  to  them,  nor  by  any  chance  turn  your 
back  toward  them;  even  the  apparently  insignifi- 
cant matter  that  you  say  "Sir"  to  a  Prince,  and 
"Madam"  or  "Ma'am"  to  the  Queen  and  the 
Princesses,  and  to  nobody  else  in  England — all  this 
deepens  the  impression  on  an  ordinary  mind,  and 
makes  many  look  up  to  the  members  of  the  royal 
family  with  an  obsequiousness  which,  to  one  who 
does  not  share  it,  is  amusing. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  of  British  statesmen 
once  said  to  me :  "Every  Englishman  is  at  heart  a 
lackey.  "We  all  want  something  above  us;  some- 
thing to — to "    He  hesitated  for  a  word,  and  I 

suggested :  "  To  kotow  to  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  to  kotow  to." 


VII, 
AMERICANS  AT  COURT. 

The  whole  happiness  of  the  American  Minister 
to  England  is  marred  by  the  ever-recurring  neces- 
sity of  presenting  his  country  people  at  court. 
Most  Americans  abroad  consider  that  the  principal 
business  of  their  representatives  is  to  procure  them 
invitations  to  balls  or  tickets  to  picture  galleries. 
The  London  Legation  is  especially  beset  with  gen- 
teel but  importunate  democrats,  determined  to 
explore  the  mysteries  that  surround  the  effete  in- 
stitutions of  royalty,  to  behold  in  person  the  gold 
sticks-in-waiting,  the  gentlemen-at-arms  in  their 
helmets  and  plumes,  the  maids  of  honor,  and  the 
mistresses  of  the  robes. 

They  might,  it  is  true,  do  all  this  from  a  position 
in  the  palace  galleries,  out  of  which  respectable 
English  folk  not  grand  enough  themselves  to  go  to 
court  are  content  to  look  upon  the  procession  of 
their  betters  as  it  passes  toward  the  inner  apart- 
ments. But  no  true  American  acknowledges  any 
"betters;"  the  very  word  is  stricken  from  our 
prayer-books.     The  citizens  of  the  great  republic 


72  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

will  stand  in  no  outer  galleries;  thej  must  be 
ushered  into  the  very  presence-chamber  of  royalty. 

No  other  minister  is  so  subject  to  this  demand. 
It  is  only  once  in  a  while  that  the  ambassador 
fi'om  Russia  or  Germany  is  called  upon  to  present  a 
countryman  to  the  Queen.  Aristocrats,  apparently, 
are  not  so  anxious  as  republicans  to  frequent  foreign 
courts.  They  are  familiar  with  the  spectacle  and 
fatigued  with  the  etiquette  at  home.  Besides  which, 
only  those  entitled  to  be  presented  to  their  own 
sovereign  can  be  received  by  the  English  Queen, 
and  the  regulations  at  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg 
are  as  rigid  as  at  St.  James's,  so  that  applications 
from  Russians  or  Germans  are  rare.  But  every 
decent  American  may  know  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  the  Union,  and  therefore,  according  to  the  rules, 
he  is  authorized  to  ask  for  a  presentation  to  the 
Queen.  Remembering  the  levees  at  Washington, 
one  can  imagine  the  perplexities  of  the  envoy  of  a 
democracy. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  court  regulations  declare 
that  ladies  and  gentlemen  "  of  distinction  "  can  be 
presented  by  their  minister  in  the  diplomatic  circle, 
a  privilege  which  entitles  them  to  remain  in  the 
presence-chamber  during  the  entire  levee  or  draw- 
ing-room, and  usually  secures  an  invitation  to  a  ball. 
Now  as  all  Americans  in  Europe  are  persons  of  dis- 
tinction, they  naturally  all  desire  to  be  presented 
with  the  diplomatic  coi-ps.     The  women  especially, 


AMERICANS   AT   COURT.  73 

fashionable,  or  would-be  fashionable,  insist  upon 
this  recognition,  and  besiege  the  unlucky  minister, 
whose  torments  can  be  more  easily  imagined  than 
endured. 

American  women,  however,  invariably  dress  well; 
much  better,  as  a  rule,  than  the  English  ladies  who 
go  to  court.  They  also  adapt  themselves  with 
marked  facility  to  unfamiliar  circumstances ;  and  as 
they  have  only  to  courtesy  and  pass  before  the 
Queen,  there  is  little  opportunity  to  do  discredit  to 
their  countiy  or  its  representative.  It  is  from  no 
fear  of  a  blunder  or  a  scene  that  the  minister  is  con- 
cerned. It  is  the  numbers  from  whom  he  must 
choose  that  are  so  appalling.  For,  after  all,  the 
drawing-room  is  for  English  subjects,  and  as  there 
are  always  more  of  these  than  Her  Majesty  desires 
to  see  on  such  occasions,  it  is  rather  hard  for  her 
and  for  them  to  give  up  the  precious  time  to 
foreigners. 

In  self-defence,  therefore,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  traditions  of  their  craft,  the  wily  American 
diplomatists  have  contrived  to  fence  themselves 
about  with  rules.  They  have  entered  into  a  pact 
with  the  court  functionaries,  themselves  nothing 
loath,  by  virtue  of  which  only  four  men  and  four 
women  can  be  presented  at  one  time  with  the  diplo- 
matic coi-ps,  and  the  same  number  in  what  is  called 
the  "general  circle."  The  roster  of  men  is  often 
incomplete,  but  the  occasion  is  rare  when  the  eight 


74  ARISTOCRACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

ladies  are  not  all  on  hand.  The  minister  usually 
requires  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  personal 
'acquaintance  before  sending  in  the  name  of  one 
entirely  unknown  to  him.  But  I  sometimes  used 
to  think  that  the  lists  were  declared  full  very  early 
in  the  season,  although  if  any  one  whom  the  min- 
ister particularly  wished  to  place  came  later,  a  place 
was  found  without  all  the  difficulty  that  might  have 
been  anticipated. 

But  the  gravest  question  of  all  is  where  to  draw 
the  line  between  those  who  are  of  sufficient  "  dis- 
tinction "  to  be  presented  in  the  diplomatic  circle 
and  those  who  are  relegated  to  "  the  general." 
Most  ministers  cut  the  matter  short  by  announcing 
that,  as  we  have  no  rank  nor  class  distinctions  in 
America,  presentations  in  the  diplomatic  circle  must 
be  restricted  to  official  persons  and  their  families — 
governors  of  States,  senators,  high  military  or  naval 
officers,  and  the  like.  Of  course  stray  friends  of 
the  minister  himself  slip  in  occasionally,  whose 
claim  might  be  disputed,  but  to  be  a  cousin  of 
an  envoy,  or  even  of  an  acting  charge  d'affaires, 
is  to  be  a  "  person  of  distinction,"  at  least  in  the 
eyes  of  him  who  is  to  decide.  The  court  takes  him 
for  sponsor,  and  I  never  heard  but  once  that  a  pres- 
entation requested  by  an  American  minister  was 
refused. 

The  court,  indeed,  is  very  good  to  Americans. 
It  does  not  inquire  if  they  are  engaged  in  trade, 


AMEBIC  A  N8    AT   COURT.  75 

although  no  English  merchant  can  be  presented  to 
his  sovereign  without  especial  claim.  It  looks  not 
too  closely  to  the  morals  or  the  manners  of  our 
countrymen  or  country-women,  but  very  carefully 
to  their  clothes.  The  rules  for  dress  are  never 
relaxed  for  any  Americans  except  those  in  the 
legation.  All  men  must  wear  knee-breeches  and 
swords,  the  court  costume,  or  uniform.  As  for  the 
women,  they  are  only  too  happy  to  put  on  feathers 
and  trains  and  any  other  frippery  that  etiquette 
will  authorize. 

But  still  another  difficulty  sometimes  remains 
before  an  American  lady  with  her  unwilling  guide 
arrives  at  the  threshold  of  the  court.  A  minister  can 
present  only  men  :  and  the  Queen  refuses  to  allow 
to  the  daughters  of  a  diplomatist  the  precedence  of 
a  minister's  wife  or  the  privilege  of  presenting  her 
compatriots,  so  that  if  the  envoy  is  unmarried  he 
must  find  some  friendly  matron  to  perform  the  office 
for  him.  For  a  long  time  it  was  customary,  as  it 
certainly  was  becoming,  in  such  a  crisis,  to  ask  this 
favor  of  the  wife  of  the  English  Minister  for 
Foreign  Aflfairs,  and  the  request  was  gracefully  and 
graciously  complied  with.  A  few  years  ago,  how- 
ever, a  woman  whose  husband  was  Foreign  Secre- 
tary declined  to  consider  herself  bound  to  present 
American  ladies  to  the  Queen,  though  vouched  for 
by  the  Ameiican  representative.  There  have  been 
times  when  such  a  refusal  would  have  produced  a 


76  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

rupture  in  the  relations  of  sovereign  States ;  but  tlie 
American  Minister  meekly  submitted  to  the  slight, 
and  had  recourse  to  other  ladies  of  his  acquaint- 
ance. He  always  found  them  willing.  Sometimes 
it  was  the  wife  of  a  colleague  in  the  diplomatic 
corps  who  came  to  his  relief ;  sometimes  an  English 
woman  who  atoned  for  the  discourtesy  of  her  com- 
patriot. 

When  every  preliminary  is  settled  the  persistent 
fair  one,  triumphing  over  the  last  obstacle,  proceeds 
to  Buckingham  Palace,  not,  however,  with  her 
minister  or  with  the  lady  who  is  to  present  her,  but 
in  her  own  carriage,  for  the  furbelows  and  feathers 
take  up  a  deal  of  room,  and  two  ladies  dressed  for 
court  will  crowd  the  largest  coach.  If  she  is  to  be 
presented  in  the  diplomatic  circle  her  servant  has  a 
ticket  admitting  her  carriage  at  a  special  entrance ; 
she  then  need  not  fall  into  line  a  mile  from  the 
palace,  but  drives  direct  to  the  Ambassadors'  door, 
and  waits  only  a  few  moments  in  the  ante-room. 
Then  she  follows  her  sponsor,  and  remains  with  her 
to  the  end. 

If  she  goes  to  the  general  circle  she  must  take 
her  place  in  St.  James's  Park,  or  still  further  away, 
prepared  to  wait  patiently  for  hours,  while  the 
rabble  stare  in  at  her  carriage  windows  and  com- 
ment audibly  upon  her  charms,  her  laces,  and  her 
jewelry,  guessing  at  her  age  or  the  prices  of  her 
clothes. 


AMERICANS    AT   COUKT.  77 

Nor  is  it  only  the  outside  mob  that  indulges  in 
these  investigations.  One  of  our  country-women 
told  me  of  an  experience  she  had  in  tlie  precincts  of 
royalty  that  is  worth  recording.  She  had  arrived 
at  "  the  pens,"  as  the  ante-chambers  are  irrever- 
ently called  by  those  who  frequent  them.  Tired  of 
standing  for  hours,  jostled  and  trodden  on  and 
stared  at  by  high-bred  dames,  the  American  was 
about  to  retire  from  the  column,  when  a  lively  con- 
test of  voices  immediately  in  her  rear  attracted  her 
attention. 

"  I  tell  you  it  is." 

"  No,  it  cannot  be." 

"  But  look  for  yourself" 

Turning  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  dispute,  the 
stranger  found  two  English  ladies  turning  up  her 
train  to  discover  whether  or  no  it  was  lined  with 
lace.  Fortunately  for  her  feminine  pride  the  lace 
was  real. 

The  ball,  the  object  of  all  these  efforts  and  im- 
portunities, is  very  much  like  other  balls.  The 
dresses  of  the  men  are  more  showy  than  at  a  private 
party  in  America ;  but  those  of  the  women  not  so 
brilliant,  except  that  finer  jewelry  is  worn.  Court 
trains  are  not  prescribed,  nor  are  feathers  indispen- 
sable, though  the  men  are  not  admitted  except  in 
uniform  or  court-dress.  I  once  saw  an  exception  to 
this  rule.  The  Emperor  of  Brazil  wore  a  black 
coat  and  trousers  and  heavy  boots  at  one  of  these 


78  AEISTOCKACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

balls.  But  His  Imperial  Majesty  constantly  vio- 
lated not  only  etiquette,  but  good  breeding  as  well. 
He  was  above  the  rules.* 

Every  one  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  room  before 
the  entrance  of  royalty,  and  at  about  ten  o'clock 
"  God  Save  the  Queen  "  is  struck  up,  and  the  Prin- 
cess of  "Wales  with  her  ladies  heads  the  procession. 
Afterward  come  the  Prince  of  Wales,  his  brothers, 
and  their  attendants;  for  in  all  court  ceremonies 
the  women  of  equal  rank  precede  the  men.  I  was 
once  at  a  dinner  given  to  an  Emperor  and  Empress, 


*  Before  Dom  Pedro's  arrival  in  England,  the  Brazilian 
minister  had  issued  cards  for  a  ball  in  his  master's  honor, 
to  which  all  the  great  people  in  London  were  asked ;  but 
when  the  Emperor  came  to  town  he  declared  that  the  min- 
ister had  no  right  to  make  arrangements  for  him  without 
his  knowledge,  and  refused  to  go  to  the  ball.  So  the  ser- 
vant was  disgraced  before  the  world,  though  he  had  shown 
himself  a  finer  gentleman  than  the  sovereign  whom  he  had 
sought  to  please. 

Another  instance  of  the  imperial  discourtesy  will  be  more 
interesting  to  Americans.  General  Grant  arrived  in  London 
a  week  earlier  than  the  Emperor.  He  had  welcomed  Dora 
Pedro  to  America  the  year  before  as  President,  and  paid  him 
every  attention  due  from  one  Head  of  a  State  to  another. 
He  now  sent  to  inquire  when  it  would  suit  the  Emperor  to 
receive  a  visit.  His  Majesty  was  not  in,  and  the  message 
was  delivered  to  a  Chamberlain.  But  the  Emperor  never 
made  any  reply  to  the  offered  courtesy,  and  the  visit  was  not 
paid. 


AMERICANS    AT   COURT.  79 

where  the  Prince  of  Wales  entered  first,  preceding 
even  the  Emperor,  because  he  walked  with  the 
Empress. 

After  a  few  moments  the  first  quadrille  is  formed, 
in  which  no  one  joins  but  royalty,  or  those  whom 
royalty  invites ;  afterward  dancing  becomes  general, 
but  the  upper  part  of  the  room  is  appropriated  to  the 
court  and  persons  of  very  high  rank.  If  a  princess 
wishes  to  dance  with  a  nobleman  or  gentleman,  she 
sends  him  word  by  an  equerry,  for  no  one  not  royal 
can  ask  her.  So  also,  when  a  prince  desires  a  part- 
ner of  lower  degree,  his  lord-in-waiting  signifies  the 
princely  pleasure,  though  the  royal  brothers  some- 
times overlook  this  fonn  and  invite  in  person  the 
lady  with  whom  they  deign  to  dance.  Needless  to 
say,  they  are  never  refused. 

The  ball-room  is  oblong  in  shape,  and  showily, 
rather  than  splendidly  decorated,  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  Prince  Consort,  which  was  always 
heavy  and  gaudy  in  art.  At  the  top  of  the  room, 
and  running  nearly  across  it,  is  a  dais,  with  chairs 
of  state  for  the  royal  personages ;  and  on  each  side 
of  this,  but  at  right  angles,  are  several  tiers  of  seats, 
those  on  one  side  reserved  for  the  diplomatic  corps, 
on  the  other  for  peeresses  ;  the  bench  next  the  floor 
for  duchesses,  the  next  for  marchionesses,  and  so 
on  ;  and  it  is  amusing  to  observe  how  scrupulous 
these  noblewomen  are  to  take  exactly  the  place  to 
which    they    consider    themselves    entitled.     The 


80  AKISTOCRACY  IN   ENGLAND. 

court  has  never  recognized  the  right  of  the  duch- 
esses to  tlie  seats  thej  claim ;  but  every  duchess 
insists  upon  her  bench,  and  royalty  winks  at  tlie 
usurpation. 

After  the  first  quadrille  it  used  to  be  the  custom 
when  I  first  went  to  court  (it  is  difl'erent  now)  for 
the  greatest  personages  to  pass  in  line  before  the 
Princes,  who,  to  receive  this  homage,  ranged  them- 
selves standing  along  the  dais.  The  diplomatic 
corps  went  first,  the  ladies  leading  the  way ;  then 
the  men  of  the  corps,  according  to  their  rank  and 
the  seniority  of  their  standing  at  the  English  court. 
Afterward  the  duchesses  advanced.  The  dais  was 
so  high  that  as  they  made  their  courtesies  the  heads 
of  the  ladies  were  brought  about  to  the  knees  of  the 
Princes.  Some  of  these  peeresses  were  of  lineage 
as  ancient  as  that  of  the  royal  family,  and  descended 
from  as  many  kings ;  others  were  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  men  whose  estates  are  larger  than 
German  principalities,  and  whose  incomes  transcend 
those  of  all  the  children  of  the  Queen ;  while  for 
public  service  and  character,  their  names  will  live 
when  the  world  has  forgotten  whether  Victoria  was 
ever  married.  But  the  prostration  M^ent  on,  and 
those  who  performed  it  seemed  as  satisfied  as  those 
who  received. 

At  midnight  supper  is  served,  and,  of  course,  roy- 
alty precedes.  The  doors  of  the  supper- room  are 
at  the  sides  of  the  dais,  and  the  great  folk  who  usu- 


AMERICANS    AT    COURT.  81 

ally  surround  royalty  are  already  near  these  doors. 
And  now  comes  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  ot 
all  the  scenes  in  court  life.  Only  the  most  distin- 
guished in  rank  are  supposed  to  follow  the  Princes  to 
the  supper-room.  The  doors  are  very  soon  closed, 
and  the  struggle  among  duchesses  and  ambassadors 
and  people  of  that  sort  to  get  within  these  portals 
in  time  is  something  more  ridiculous  and  unrefined 
than  is  ordinarily  supposed  to  occur  in  palaces.  You 
can  see  nothing  worse  in  any  parvenu  house  in  the 
Fifth  avenue. 

Once  in,  the  aristocracy  smooths  its  rufiled  plu- 
mage, and  places  itself  in  two  parallel  lines,  to  watch 
the  royal  hosts  at  their  repast,  for  no  guest  can  be 
served  till  the  Princes  are  appeased.  There  are 
three  tables  lining  three  sides  of  the  room,  and  the 
royal  family  advance  to  the  centre  one,  where  they 
stand  with  their  backs  to  the  company,  looking  for 
all  the  world  like  ordinary  people  at  an  ordinary 
table  at  an  ordinary  ball.  After  the  hosts  have 
satisfied  themselves  they  turn  to  their  guests,  and 
pass  leisurely  down  the  room  toward  the  entrance, 
while  the  magnates  of  England  in  rank  and  political 
power  and  territorial  importance  press  gently  for- 
ward, if  haply  they  may  catch  a  royal  glance  and 
perform  the  profound  genuflection  again. 

Sometimes  a  scion  of  royalty  feels  a  desire  to  stop 
and  exchange  a  word  with  an  individual  of  suflScient 
consequence,  and  then  the  favored  one  bends  defer- 
6 


83  AEI8T0CEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

entiall}^  forward,  the  object  of  envy  all  along  the 
line.  When  the  Prince  or  Princess  thinks  the  col- 
loquy has  been  sufficiently  prolonged  a  little  signal 
makes  the  participant  aware  that  this  high  honor 
and  happiness  is  over ;  another  profound  obeisance, 
and  the  man  or  woman  whom  royalty  has  recog- 
nized sinks  back  into  the  crowd,  beaming  with 
reflected  radiance. 

At  other  times  the  Princes  walk  steadily  by,  con- 
versing with  each  other,  and  ignoring  every  high- 
bred effort  to  attract  their  notice,  and  then  the  lines 
of  courtiers  on  both  sides  all  bow  together  very  low, 
like  the  chorus  in  the  opera  bouffe  of  "Barbe 
Bleue,"  and  pretend  not  to  be  disappointed ;  but 
when  the  children  of  the  Queen  have  passed  along 
their  lieges  fall  to  discussing  their  faults  as  vigor- 
ously as  if  the  hosts  were  mortal,  like  themselves. 
In  all  these  abasements  I  never  noticed  that  the 
ultra-Radicals  who  go  to  court  were  any  less  supple 
than  the  most  ardent  Tories,  while  the  last  manu- 
facturer who  had  entered  the  Government  craned 
his  neck  for  recognition  as  eagerly  as  the  American 
Minister  or  the  oldest  groom  of  the  stole. 


VIII. 
THE  CROWN  IN  POLITICS. 

If  all  tlie  parade  of  obeisance  that  surrounds  the 
Queen  indicated  the  real  power  of  a  mighty  sover- 
eign, even  democrats  might  appreciate  the  pag- 
eantry. If  Victoria  were  an  Elizabeth  and  could 
send  her  nobles  to  the  Tower,  if  she  possessed  the 
authority  of  Kaiser  or  Czar,  or  one  tithe  of  the  in- 
fluence in  public  afi'airs  of  an  American  President, 
the  shows  of  supremacy  would  have  significance. 
Prerogative  may  be  arrogant  without  pretension, 
and  autocracy  is  not  ridiculous,  however  imperious. 
But  the  abject  statesmen,  who  sat  at  the  feet  ot 
their  mistress  at  St.  Paul's  were  Mayors  of  the  Pal- 
ace after  all.  It  is  the  change  of  a  ministry,  not 
the  death  of  a  sovereign,  that  convulses  England. 

I  was  talking  once  with  a  Prime  Minister,  who 
declared  that  the  great  fault  in  American  institu- 
tions is  the  quadrennial  change  of  Presidents  and 
the  political  turbulence  that  attends  it.  "  Nothing 
like  this,"  he  said,  "occurs  when  an  English  sover- 
eign dies."  I  could  not  refrain  from  answering 
that  the  parallel  did  not  hold.     The  real  crisis  in 


84  AKISTOCKACY  EN    ENGLAND. 

England  is  when  a  government  goes  out  of  power, 
not  when  a  monarch  leaves  the  scene.  The  states- 
man was  silent.  He  could  not  deny  that  his  own 
downfall  would  be  a  greater  event  than  the  demise 
of  his  mistress  and  the  transfer  of  the  regalia  to  an- 
other wearer.  These  are  but  the  trappings  and  the 
suits  of  power. 

Lord  Beaconsfield  could  make  the  Queen  into  an 
Empress,  and  the  Government  of  the  day  settles  the 
allowance  of  every  royal  prince  when  he  arrives  at 
his  majority,  as  well  as  the  dowry  of  every  princess 
at  her  marriage.  It  even  determines  the  income  of 
the  sovereign  upon  an  accession  to  the  throne.  The 
Queen  cannot  create  a  peer  against  the  will  of  the 
Prime  Minister.  If  he  makes  out  a  list  of  his  ad- 
herents to  be  elevated  to  the  Upper  House,  Her 
Majesty  is  sometimes  permitted  to  add  the  name  of 
a  personal  friend,  but  not  too  often.  She  can  refuse 
her  sanction  to  no  measure  which  the  Government 
approves.  Her  speeches  from  the  throne  are  all 
written  for  her.  She  must  even  accept  distasteful 
ministers  if  the  House  of  Commons  or  the  nation 
will  have  no  others. 

The  Queen,  nevertheless,  declines  to  consider  her- 
self a  mere  mouthpiece  for  her  ministers.  A  few 
years  ago  I  was  staying  at  the  house  of  a  member 
of  the  government  who  had  just  returned  from 
Balmoral — for  a  minister  is  always  in  attendance 
on  the  Queen  to  lay  public  business  before  her  and 


THE   CROWN    IN    POLITICS.  85 

procure  lier  signature  to  public  documents.  My  host 
assured  me  that  Her  Majesty  took  the  liveliest  in- 
terest in  national  affairs,  that  she  studied  closely  all 
matters  of  importance,  had  opinions  of  her  own  and 
expressed  them  freely,  and  sometimes  induced  her 
ministers  to  change  their  minds.  Her  long  experi- 
ence and  acquaintance  with  political  men  give  her 
some  advantages  that  none  of  her  subjects  can  enjoy. 
She  has  never  been  out  of  office,  and  she  knows  the 
secrets  of  both  the  great  parties  in  the  State. 

Until  quite  recently,  however,  the  ordinary  Eng- 
lishman supposed  his  sovereign  to  be  excluded  from 
all  participation  in  politics,  a  mere  puppet,  whose 
strings  the  minister  pulled.  But  when  the  Memoirs 
of  Baron  Stockmar,  the  tutor  of  the  Prince  Consort, 
appeared,  they  divulged  the  fact  familiar  to  the  in- 
itiated, that  both  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  had 
always  entertained  decided  opinions  on  political 
subjects,  and  more  than  once  had  attempted  to 
affect,  and  even  to  change,  tlie  foreign  policy  of 
England.  Diplomacy,  indeed,  is  the  sphere  in  which 
the  Queen  especially  aspires  to  exert  an  influence. 
Her  foreign  connections  by  blood  and  marriage  un- 
doubtedly contribute  to  mould  her  opinions :  and 
she  dislikes,  besides,  to  appear  to  foreign  sovereigns 
to  possess  less  weight  in  the  affairs  of  her  own 
kingdom  than  they  enjoy  in  theirs.  So  she  keeps 
up  a  correspondence  on  state  matters  with  kings 
and  emperors  which  she  fancies  is  of  importance, 


86  AKISTOCEAOY  IN    ENGLAND. 

and  which  may,  indeed,  sometimes  have  had  its 
influence;  though  doubtless  the  Bismarcks  and 
Gortchakoffs  have  been  careful  to  discount  tlie 
feminine  diplomacy  at  its  actual  value. 

The  discovery  of  this  royal  intervention  created 
not  only  widespread  surprise,  but  unfavorable,  and 
even  hostile,  comment  among  her  subjects;  for 
there  are  not  a  few  in  England,  and  their  number 
increases  every  year,  who  hold  the  functions  of  a 
constitutional  sovereign  to  consist  in  simply  sign- 
ing, with  closed  eyes  and  lips,  whatever  document 
a  minister  may  present.  They  submit  to  monarchy 
only  on  condition  that  its  claws  shall  be  closely 
pared.  But  now  the  Queen  stood  revealed  as  some- 
thing more  than  a  figurehead ;  the  machine  was  an 
automaton,  but  with  a  concealed  workman ;  for  her 
judgment,  it  was  seen,  had  been  not  merely  guided, 
but  controlled,  by  her  foreign  husband,  while  the 
Prince  himself  had  relied  in  a  great  measure  on  the 
advice  of  his  German  mentor,  Baron  Stockmar,  an 
individual  of  whose  very  existence  nine-tenths  of 
the  British  nation  had  been  unaware. 

These  disclosures  were  at  first  distasteful  to  the 
court,  which,  at  least  in  the  Prince  Consort's  time, 
had  been  content  with  a  share  of  power  without  the 
show ;  but  when  once  the  real  state  of  afi'airs  was 
unveiled  a  bold  face  was  put  on  the  matter.  In  the 
"  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,"  written  not  only 
with  the  sanction,  but  with  the  avowed  assistance  of 


THE    CROWN   m    POLITICS.  87 

the  Queen,  the  doctrine  was  defended  that  the  sov- 
ereign of  right  should  have  opinions,  and  maintain 
them,  too,  on  all  subjects  of  national  importance. 
One  volume  of  this  work  appeared  at  the  height 
of  the  controversy  in  regard  to  the  Turco-E,ussian 
war;  and  the  leaning  of  the  court  in  that  con- 
troversy was  purposely  and  unmistakably  made 
apparent. 

The  result  was  proof  that  no  serious  intervention 
of  the  Crown  will  ever  be  tolerated  in  English 
politics  again.  The  interposition  in  this  instance 
was  very  generally  regarded  as  injudicious,  and  by 
many  was  resented  as  an  unwarrantable  encroach- 
ment ;  while  the  dislike  which  in  various  quarters 
had  been  felt  for  the  character  and  policy  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield  was  in  some  degree  extended  to  the 
Queen.  At  no  time  during  my  long  residence  in 
England  was  there  so  much  of  downright  animosity 
displayed  toward  the  court.  Politicians  wantonly 
fanned  the  flame  for  selfish  or  party  purposes,  and 
courtiers  foolishly  followed  their  example,  drajj^ging 
Majesty  itself  into  the  strife.  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
one  of  tlie  ablest  and  most  unscrupulous  adven- 
turers who  ever  rose  to  power,  was  directly  answer- 
able for  this  opposition  toward  the  Queen.  He  de- 
liberately used  his  influence  with  a  weak  old  woman, 
beguiling  her  by  flattery  and  a  show  of  deference 
for  her  opinions,  to  assume  an  authority  that  he 
knew  the  nation  would  resent ;  an  authority  which 


88  AKISTOCKACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

be  was  liimself  to  exercise,  while  the  opinions  were 
those  that  he  had  himself  infused. 

With  a  few  in  England — the  courtiers  and  those 
who  aspire  to  be  courtiers — the  sentiments  of  the 
sovereign  still  have  weight.  Here  and  there  a 
genuine  Tory  survives  who  believes  in  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  because  that  implies  the  divine  right 
of  dukes  and  earls  and  landed  gentry  and  superiors 
generally.  The  nobility,  as  a  class,  perceive  that 
their  cause  is  bound  up  with  that  of  the  throne ; 
that  if  one  is  overturned,  the  other  must  roll  in  the 
dust ;  if  one  is  maintained,  the  other  is  likelier  to 
remain  secure.  Like  the  priests  of  a  false  religion, 
they  fall  down  before  the  image  they  have  them- 
selves set  up,  and,  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  are 
its  profoundest  worshippers.  It  is  with  this  feeling 
that  they  behave  toward  the  Queen  as  if  she  were 
the  Grand  Lama  of  Thibet,  and  keep  up  the  mum- 
meries that  have  been  discarded  by  the  Mikado  of 
Japan.  Perhaps  at  times  the  homage  is  in  part  sin- 
cere. People  often  persuade  themselves  of  what 
they  wish  to  believe,  and  by  dint  of  repeating  a 
form  one  may  come  to  accept  a  creed. 

There  are  others  who  see  through  the  sham,  but 
go  through  the  show  all  the  same;  the  courtiers 
who  are  so  close  as  to  perceive  the  nakedness  of 
royalty  under  its  robes,  or  the  aspirants  and  ad- 
venturers who  are  aware  that  this  is  the  way  to 
make  themselves  acceptable  to  their  social  superiors. 


THE    CROWN    m   POLITICS.  89 

Lord  Beaconsfield  was  chief  among  these,  and  knew 
how  to  use  the  others ;  to  form  a  party  out  of  them, 
and  to  crowd  himself  to  the  head  of  the  party.  He 
was  so  much  cleverer  than  any  one  else  in  England, 
that  he,  the  most  un-English  of  English  statesmen, 
of  a  hated  race  and  hostile  creed,  without  either  the 
nobler  qualities  or  the  adventitious  aids  that  Eng- 
lishmen seem  equally  to  reverence,  without  family 
or  fortune,  or  political  honesty  or  consistency,  was 
able  to  make  himself  the  leader  of  the  aristocracy 
of  England ;  to  represent  and  to  control  both  the 
Tories  and  the  Crown.  Knowing  full  well  that  the 
course  to  which  he  advised  the  Queen  was  sure  to 
prove  in  the  end  injurious  to  the  Crown,  that  to 
thrust  Majesty  at  the  people  at  this  day  was  to  en- 
danger its  existence,  he  yet  believed  that  the  danger 
would  not  come  nor  the  storm  burst  in  his  time. 
He  could  and  would  retain  power  and  place  by  pan- 
dering to  the  vanity  of  the  Queen  and  playing  on 
the  loyalty  of  her  subjects,  and  on  the  veneration 
of  the  English  people  for  whatever  is  established. 

For  a  while  the  scheme  worked  well.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  Crown  helped  him  to  gain  voters  in 
Parliament,  though  he  lost  them  out  of  it ;  and  he 
had  the  sagacity,  besides,  to  appeal  to  the  imperial 
instinct  in  Englishmen  as  well  as  to  the  national 
pride,  combining  these  in  his  own  designs,  and 
making  them  the  tools  to  contribute  to  his  suprem- 
acy.    He  carried  his  measures  for  a  day. 


90  ABISTOCEACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

The  Queen  had  no  longer  the  cahn  judgment 
and  the  strong  good  sense  of  the  Prince  Consort  to 
lean  upon,  and,  woman-like,  allowed  her  partialities 
and  prejudices  to  be  seen.  This,  it  is  true,  could 
at  first  be  done  only  in  petty  matters — invitations 
withheld  from  one  rival,  or  visits  paid  to  another ; 
but  such  indications  are  significant  at  a  court,  and 
they  were  not  wanting.  Mr,  Gladstone  was  left 
out  from  state  banquets  at  Windsor,  and  the  Queen 
lunched  with  Lord  Beaconsfield  at  his  country 
house — an  honor  she  had  paid  no  minister  for  years. 
These  very  demonstrations  of  the  royal  preference, 
however,  contributed  to  the  downfall  of  the  Bea- 
consfield  government ;  for  they  were  felt  to  indicate 
a  political  bias  in  Her  Majesty,  and  the  idea  became 
prevalent  that  the  court  was  interfering  in  politics 
beyond  any  recent  precedent.  The  indignation" 
which  this  belief  aroused  was  in  many  quarters 
profound.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  monarch- 
ical principle  had  received  a  blow ;  no  one  thought 
a  fatal  one,  but  when  a  structure  stands  in  any  way 
insecure,  when  similar  ones  are  tottering  or  falling 
on  every  side,  when  there  are  foes  within  as  well  as 
without  the  walls,  the  garrison  should  beware  of 
inviting  attack  or  exposing  the  vulnerable  points, 
which  may  thus  far  have  been  screened.  Imme- 
diately after  the  appearance  of  the  royal  book, 
which  was  in  reality  a  manifesto,  Lord  Beaconsfield 
was  hurled  from  power,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 


THE    CROWN    IN    POLITICS.  91 

that  the  avowed  favor  of  the  Crown  contributed 
directly  to  this  result.  The  people  were  determined 
that  the  Queen  should  reign,  but  not  rule.  The 
engineer  was  hoist  with  his  own  petard. 

The  royal  feeling  at  this  juncture  rose  so  high 
that,  when  the  Tories  were  overthrown,  and  the 
time  came,  according  to  English  usage,  for  the  sov- 
ereign to  send  for  the  chief  of  the  Opposition  to 
form  a  government,  Her  Majesty  offered  the  pre- 
miership to  two  members  of  the  Liberal  party  before 
she  consented  to  call  Mr.  Gladstone  to  her  counsels. 
But  Lord  Granville  and  Lord  Hartington  were 
loyal  to  their  chief,  and  informed  the  Queen  that 
only  Mr.  Gladstone  would  be  accepted  by  the  na- 
tion ;  and  Her  Majesty  was  obliged  to  yield,  though 
not,  it  is  said,  without  tears.  So  the  man  she  dis- 
liked was  summoned ;  he  kissed  her  hand,  and  be- 
came her  chief  counsellor,  the  head  of  her  govern- 
ment and  the  director  of  all  her  public  acts.  The 
bubble  that  Lord  Beaconsfield  had  blown  so  high 
had  burst  forever. 

The  Queen,  however,  is  not  without  sagacity,  and 
certainly  has  no  wish  to  imperil  her  throne.  She 
can  discern  the  line  which  she  must  never  trans- 
gress. She  means,  besides,  to  be  constitutional, 
though,  if  she  be  so,  no  English  sovereign  ever  was 
before  ;  no  other  was  compelled  to  submit  his  own 
will  so  absolutely  and  constantly  to  that  of  the 
nation.     But  the  English  Constitution  grows  and 


92  ARISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

changes  continuously,  like  the  character  of  a  living 
man  ;  and  the  idea  of  the  subjection  of  the  sover- 
eign has  developed  marvellously  of  late.  Her  Maj- 
esty is  well  aware  of  the  tacit  conditions  on  which 
she  keeps  her  throne,  and  invariably  accepts  the 
situation  when  it  becomes  inevitable.  So  she  wiped 
her  eyes.  Beaconslield,  the  tempter,  had  led  her 
astray,  put  naughty  notions  into  her  head,  and  she, 
not  unnaturally,  regretted  the  minister  who  had 
flattered  her  vanity  and  humored  her  pride ;  who 
added  to  her  titles  and  pretended  to  add  to  her 
power;  but  when  he  was  gone,  she  subsided  into 
the  good  Queen  of  present  England  again — sent 
telegrams  of  condolence  to  sick  or  dying  friends, 
distributed  India  shawls  among  the  aristocracy, 
wrote  a  book  about  John  Brown  instead  of  the 
Prince  Consort,  and  for  a  while  let  politics  alone. 
She  and  Mr.  Gladstone  appeared  to  rub  along  very 
amicably  together.  The  new  Prime  Minister  was 
asked  to  the  next  royal  wedding,  though  when  he 
stayed  at  Windsor  it  was  said  that  his  sleep  was  dis- 
turbed by  the  screaming  of  Beaconsfield's  peacocks, 
which  the  Queen  had  brought  from  her  former 
Premier's  funeral. 

The  English  are  good-natured,  on  the  whole,  and 
they  like  dignities  and  establishments — "  something 
to  kotow  to  ; "  and  Whigs,  and  even  Radicals,  con- 
tent with  the  possession  of  place  and  power,  quickly 
forffot   their  recent  rage.     No  more  diatribes   or 


THE    CROWN    IN    POLITICS.  93 

pamplilets  ai^pearecl,  transcending  etiquette  and 
censuring  majesty,  and  the  Queen  seemed  to  re- 
cover her  pristine  popularity.  It  was  a  family 
quarrel,  after  all,  and  apparently  entirely  healed  ; 
but  it  would  be  wiser  and  better  for  all  concerned 
not  to  provoke  it  again. 


IX. 
THE  PERSONAL  CHAEACTER  OF  THE  QUEEN. 

The  portrait  of  the  Queen  would  be  incomplete 
without  some  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  per- 
sonal virtues  of  Her  Majesty  have  contributed  to  the 
stability  of  the  English  throne.  In  this  era  of  revo- 
lutions, when  Europe  is  crowded  with  exiled  sover- 
eigns, when  Sultans  and  Czars,  and  even  Presidents, 
are  assassinated,  when  France  and  Spain  and  Rome 
and  Naples  and  a  host  of  pettier  States  have  not 
only  overthrown  their  monarchs,  but  changed  the 
very  forms  of  their  governments,  the  British  dy- 
nasty has  remained  undisturbed.  Doubtless,  this  is 
due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  freedom  of  British 
institutions  as  well  as  to  the  preference  of  the 
British  people  for  whatever  is  established ;  but 
the  invariable  private  excellencies  of  the  Queen 
have  also  been  conspicuous  agents  in  producing  the 
result. 

No  breath  of  scandal  has  ever  lighted  on  Victoria's 
fame  as  wife  or  widow,  and  the  purity  of  the 
atmosphere  which  she  had  to  create  for  her  court  is 
known   to   the   world.      Neither  is  her  beautiful 


THE    PERSONAL    CHAKACTEK   OF  THE    QUEEN.       95 

domestic  life,  preserved  amid  ceremonies  and  dis- 
tractions innumerable  and  unavoidable,  a  mere 
matter  of  course.  The  spectacle  of  other  sovereigns 
of  her  own  age  and  sex  and  time  demonstrates  this. 
Divided  families,  rebellious  or  rival  relatives,  dis- 
obedient children,  unfaithful  consorts  of  royal  rank 
abound  to-day,  as  in  all  history.  But  Her  Majesty, 
with  an  absolute  confidence  in  the  aifection  of  her 
subjects,  and  an  instinctive  sympathy  with  the 
domestic  feeling  of  the  British  people,  has  revealed 
much  of  her  character  and  daily  life  in  the  "  Leaves 
from  the  Journal  of  Our  Life  in  the  Highlands," 
and  the  "Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,"  to  which  she 
so  largely  contributed.  Apart  from  the  political 
character  unwisely  given  to  portions  of  the  latter 
work,  there  is  little  in  any  of  these  volumes  that  does 
not  elevate  one's  idea  of  the  lady  who  has  been  able 
to  retain  so  much  simplicity  and  genuine  feeling, 
amid  the  pageantiies  of  a  palace  and  the  punctilio 
of  a  court. 

There  is  doubtless  a  little  of  what,  to  an  American 
and  a  democrat,  seems  over-consciousness  of  rank,  a 
certainty  that  the  most  trivial  matters  concerning 
herself  and  her  family  must  be  interesting ;  and  the 
over-weening  regard  for  etiquette,  which  is  one  of 
Her  Majesty's  most  distinctive  traits,  is  often  so 
apparent  as  to  become  amusing.  She  notes  how 
people  sit  at  dinner  or  the  order  in  wliich  they  enter 
a  room  as  carefully  as  if  these  were  questions  of 


96  AKISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

peace  or  war,  and  records  the  long  lists  of  her 
guests  at  weddings  or  funerals — the  only  occasions 
at  which  she  now  entertains  in  state — as  gravely  as 
if  she  were  proclaiming  treaties  or  dividing  empires. 
But  these  peculiarities  are  perhaps  inseparable  from 
her  position,  and  originate  in  the  life  she  must  lead 
rather  than  in  her  individual  character  or  prefer- 
ences. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Queen  of  England  ex- 
hibits in  her  exalted  sphere  virtues  which  the  hum- 
blest man  or  woman  in  her  realm  might  imitate, 
virtues  which  endear  her  personally  to  her  subjects 
and  certainly  make  them  unwilling  in  her  time  to 
disturb  her  throne.  Purity,  honor,  truth,  religion, 
fidelity  in  all  the  family  relations,  constancy  to 
friends,  sympathy  with  all  forms  of  human  suffer- 
ing in  whatever  class — these  are  traits  on  account 
of  which  the  English  people  of  to-day  is  content  to 
have  a  Queen. 

There  may  be  times  when  the  traits  of  the  woman 
seem  incongruous  with  the  character  of  a  ruler; 
when  the  unconscious  disposition  to  submit  to 
another  mind,  the  susceptibility  to  the  influence  of 
a  masculine  nature,  makes  the  Salique  law  compre- 
hensible, if  not  regrettable.  Not  every  favorite  or 
director  of  the  Queen  has  been  a  Prince  Consort. 
Beaconsfield  and  John  Brown  each  exercised  a  sway 
that  was  neither  admirable  nor  beneficial.  But  there 
is  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  too,  and  the  very 


THE   PERSONAL    CHAEACTEK   OF  THE    QUEEN.       97 

womanliness  of  the  Queen  has  in  many  ways  com- 
mended her  to  her  own  subjects,  while  it  extorts  a 
sympathetic  interest  from  the  world  at  large.  That 
womanliness  makes  the  country  to  her  no  abstrac- 
tion, but  a  personality.  She  feels  toward  her  people 
as  a  mother  toward  her  children.  There  may  be  to 
a  republican  something  odd  or  almost  ludicrous  in 
the  idea,  but  there  is  something  touching,  and  even 
elevated,  besides.  The  Queen,  it  is  plain,  has  a 
downright  affection  for  her  people,  as  for  an  individ- 
ual, and,  to  a  certain  degree,  the  affection  is  re- 
turned. 

It  may  be  fortunate  for  the  dynasty  after  all  that 
the  sovereign  of  England  in  these  days  is  a  woman. 
A  very  important  man  once  said  to  me :  "■  This 
people  would  not  stand  another  George  lY. ; "  and 
I  have  heard  court  ladies  declare  they  would  never 
kiss  the  hand  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  homage 
paid  the  Queen  has  something  in  it  of  the  courtesy 
offered  to  a  lady,  and  no  man  is  humiliated  by 
kneeling  to  a  woman.  We  all  do  that,  democrats  or 
not,  at  some  time  in  our  lives. 

Even  the  petty  revelations  in  Her  Majesty's  latest 
volume,  the  very  babble  about  the  servants  and  the 
family,  make  a  picture  of  home  life  and  of  a  gar- 
rulous old  lady  under  her  crown,  that  has  a  certain 
attraction  for  the  English  nature.  Her  love  of 
country  life,  her  visits  to  the  sick,  her  gossip  with 
the  a:i]lies,  her  presence  at  servants'  balls — though 
^7 


98  AKISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

she  never  attends  an  entertainment  of  the  aristoc- 
racy— all  betray  the  homespun  tastes  and  virtues  of 
a  "  gude  wife,"  for  all  the  ermine. 

In  fact,  Her  Majesty's  sympathies  are  with  the 
middle  class  rather  than  with  the  aristocracy.  She 
looks  like  one  of  them,  and,  so  far  as  she  can,  she 
lives  like  one  of  them.  I  saw  her  once  in  public 
refuse  to  be  cloaked  by  a  duke  and  turn  her 
shoulders  to  John  Brown.  Doubtless  Brown  per- 
formed the  service  more  skilfully,  but  there  was  a 
significance  in  the  act  all  the  same.  Her  very  regard 
for  etiquette,  in  a  lower  rank  would  be  the  interest 
of  a  shop-woman  in  her  wares.  I  asked  General 
Grant  how  he  was  impressed  by  Her  Majesty  when 
he  dined  at  "Windsor.  He  said  that  when  talking 
with  him  the  Queen  had  a  fidgetty,  embarrassed 
manner,  like  that  of  a  person  unused  to  her  posi- 
tion, but  anxious  to  put  him  at  his  ease.  She 
probably  wished  to  show  him  that  she  was  his 
superior,  and  yet  to  do  it  in  a  high-bred  way ;  for 
in  his  case  she  may  have  had  a  suspicion  that  the 
superiority  was  not  recognized.  The  sensation  must 
have  been  unusual. 

The  people  like  such  stories  about  her  as  this. 
Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  domestic  quarrel 
between  the  royal  pair,  and  the  Prince  Consort 
locked  himself  in  his  bedchamber.  But  soon  Her 
Majesty  repented  and  knocked  at  the  Prince's  door. 
"Who  is  there?"   he  asked.     "The  Queen,"  was 


THE   PEKSONAL   CHARACTER   OF  THE   QUEEN.       99 

the  reply,  and  no  answer  came.  After  a  while 
there  was  another  knock,  and  again  the  Prince  Con- 
sort asked,  "Who  is  there?"  ""Yictoria,,  Albert," 
and  the  door  was  opened  and  the  quarrel  past. 

The  counterpart  to  this  is  the  plaintive  utterance 
of  Her  Majesty  on  the  death  of  the  Prince :  "  There 
is  no  one  left  to  call  me  Yictoria  now." 

The  Queen  is,  indeed,  debarred  from  ordinary 
intimacies,  and  therefore  takes  her  subjects  into  her 
confidence.  There  is  the  necessity  to  unbend  to  some 
one,  and  as  no  one  is  near  enough  or  grand  enough, 
she  unbends  to  them  all,  just  as  she  courtesies  to  a 
multitude,  but  never  to  an  individual.  Her  subjects 
respect  the  confidence.  Her  weaknesses  she  may 
betray,  but  it  is  to  friends.  Her  eccentricities  have 
been  laid  bare,  but  they  shall  be  covered. 

The  Queen  is  the  granddaughter  of  George  III. 
in  more  things  than  one.  She  has  a  touch  of  his 
oddity  as  well  as  of  his  obstinacy ;  she  inherits  his 
royal  pride  and  his  royal  narrowness,  but  also  his 
idea  of  duty,  his  love  of  country,  his  fidelity  to  his 
family  and  friends. 

I  may,  perhaps,  be  permitted  to  mention  the 
names  of  two  of  those  friends,  not  now  living,  whom 
many  Americans  had  good  reason  to  esteem,  and 
some  to  regard  with  even  a  kinder  feeling.  The 
late  Dean  of  Westminster  and  his  wife,  the  Lady 
Augusta  Stanley,  were  both  persons  of  more  than 
ordinary   character   and   admirable   qualities,  and, 


100  AEISTOCEACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

while  genuinely  loyal  and  attached  to  Britisli  insti- 
tutions, in  no  way  narrow  or  prejudiced  in  their 
partialities.  Both  were  members  of  the  court  for 
years,  and  devoted  to  their  royal  mistress,  and  from 
them  I  learned  many  circumstances  and  traits  that 
made  me  better  appreciate  the  private  character  of 
the  Queen.  She  returned  their  regard  with  gener- 
ous ardor,  and  has  shown  that  she  cherishes  their 
memory  still.  There  must  be  a  charm  about  her  in- 
timate behavior  when  it  attaches  natures  like  theirs. 
When  the  Dean  paid  his  addresses  to  Lady 
Augusta  Bruce,  she  was  in  waiting  on  Her  Majesty, 
and,  immediately  after  he  was  accepted,  the  Queen 
invited  him  to  dinner.  At  table  she  remarked, 
with  a  touch  of  affection  in  the  humor,  that  she  had 
always  thought  the  Dean  of  Westminster  too  faithful 
a  subject  to  suspect  him  of  enticing  away  a  favorite 
servant  of  the  Crown.  But  Lady  Augusta  retained 
her  connection  with  the  court  even  after  her  mar- 
riage; she  was  extra-woman  of  the  bedchamber,  as 
it  is  called,  and  was  often  summoned  by  her  royal 
mistress  for  companionship  as  well  as  attendance. 
The  Dean  was  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  to  perform  the 
English  service  at  the  marriage  of  the  Duke  of 
Edinburgh,  and  his  wife  accompanied  him.  In  the 
rigors  of  a  Russian  winter  the  seeds  were  sown  of 
the  lingering  and  torturing  malady  that  carried  her 
off.  While  she  lay  suffering  at  the  Deanery  at 
Westminster,  the  Queen  and  the  Princesses   paid 


THE   PEK80NAX,    CHABACTEK   OF   THE    QUEEN.    101 

her  frequent  visits,  prayed  with  her,  read  with  her, 
wept  over  her ;  and  in  Westminster  Abbey  there  is 
placed  a  memorial  stone  with  an  inscription  indicat- 
ing that  the  lady  who  sleeps  beneath  was  the  friend 
of  her  sovereign. 

There  is,  however,  one  phase  of  the  fidelity  so 
strongly  marked  in  Her  Majesty's  character  which 
some  of  her  subjects  do  not  find  so  admirable.  The 
higher  English,  as  a  rule,  do  not  mourn  long  or  bit- 
terly for  their  dead ;  they  return  promptly  to  the 
world  of  business  or  of  pleasure,  and  seem  easily 
comforted  for  the  loss  of  their  nearest  relatives. 
They  therefore  naturally  disapprove  the  Queen's 
prolonged  withdrawal  from  public  life  and  court  en- 
tertainments. They  miss  the  pomp  which  should 
surround  the  head  of  the  State  on  great  occasions, 
as  well  as  the  satisfaction  of  being  seen  in  public 
with  her ;  while  as  politicians  they  deem  her  se- 
clusion unwise,  as  perhaps  it  is.  The  sentiment  of 
loyalty  in  our  day  requires  every  opportunity  of  ex- 
pression or  development.  It  is  a  plant  that  does 
not  thrive  so  well  in  the  shade,  and  the  populace 
must  see  Majesty  continually  in  the  flesh  if  it  is  ex- 
pected continually  to  revere.  The  London  trades- 
men also  murmur  at  the  decreased  expenditure  of  an 
absent  court,  which  they  do  not  hesitate  to  attribute 
to  parsimony. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  true  that  the  Queen  should 
sacrifice  her  private  feeling  for  a  public  duty ;  that 


102  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

she  should  relax  her  saddeDed  features  and  put 
aside  her  sombre  garb ;  yet  who  that  has  read  the 
most  touching  portions  of  her  recent  volumes  but 
will  feel  for  the  wife,  so  many  years  a  widow,  and 
still  constant  to  the  memory  of  her  husband?  Who 
can  fail  to  appreciate  the  fidelity  to  the  past  which 
can  find  no  pleasure  in  the  present,  the  grief  which 
in  any  rank  is  so  rare  ?  To  the  common  people  at 
least  this  steadfastness  of  sorrow  is  pathetic,  and 
certainly  in  history  the  figure  of  this  mourning 
Queen  will  be  as  interesting  as  that  of  any  of  the 
frivolous  and  beautiful  sovereigns  whose  misfortunes 
have  moved  the  world.  Not  Marie  Antoinette,  nor 
Josephine,  nor  the  unhappy  wandering  Eugenie  of 
our  own  day,  appeals  for  a  more  tender  sympathy 
than  Victoria,  seated  alone  for  so  many  years  on  so 
lofty  and  sad  an  eminence,  not  frantic  nor  rebellious 
in  her  sorrow,  but  faithful,  secluded,  expectant. 

In  the  gallery  of  the  Queen's  private  apartments 
at  Windsor  there  stands  a  piece  of  statuary,  of  life  size 
and  nobly  conceived,  representing  the  Prince  Con- 
sort drawn  by  angels  heavenward  from  the  arms  of 
the  weeping  Queen  ;    beneath  is  inscribed  the  line : 

' '  Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way. " 

To  come  upon  this  group  amid  the  splendors  of  a 
palace  is  to  feel  how  completely  it  expresses  the 
emotion  of  one  who  mourns  before  the  nations  and 
is  lonely  upon  a  throne. 


X. 

PRECEDENCE  IN  THE  SERVANTS'  HALL. 

The  question  of  precedence  agitates  bosoms 
lower  than  those  of  the  lords.  The  rivalries  rage 
in  the  servants'  hall  on  this  account  as  fiercely  as  at 
court.  In  great  houses  the  servants  go  in  to  dinner 
according  to  rank,  and  when  the  master  is  enter- 
taining company  for  a  week  the  butler  has  a  diffi- 
cult task  to  arrange  the  visiting  menials  in  the  or- 
der of  their  degrees.  First  of  all  is  the  grand  dis- 
tinction between  upper  and  lower  servants — about 
equivalent  to  that  between  lords  and  commoners,  if, 
indeed,  the  line  is  not  still  more  strictly  drawn,  for 
lords  do  dine  with  commoners,  while  upper  and 
lower  servants  may  not  eat  together  except  during 
part  of  the  dinner.  The  butler,  the  housekeeper, 
the  groom  of  the  chambers,  the  valets,  and  the 
ladies'  maids — ^these  constitute  the  upper  classes, 
and  take  their  meals  in  the  housekeeper's  room ; 
the  others  eat  in  the  servants'  hall.  At  dinner, 
however,  they  all  sit  together,  the  butler  presiding, 
until  the  meats  have  been  served ;  but  before  the 
sweets  come  on,  the  butler  rises,  proposes  the  health 


104  ARISTOCRACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

of  "  my  lord  and  lady,"  all  standing  ;  and  then  the 
upper  servants  march  solemnly  off,  according  to  de- 
gree, to  the  housekeeper's  room.  They  never  take 
their  sweets  in  the  servants'  hall.  Up  to  this  point 
extreme  decorum  has  been  observed,  but  when  the 
restraint  of  the  imposing  presence  has  been  with- 
drawn greater  hilarity  prevails  below  the  salt.  The 
footmen  begin  to  flirt  with  the  housemaids,  and  the 
grooms  and  helpers  betray  that  they  come  from  the 
stables  or  the  yard. 

In  a  great  house  thirty  or  forty  servants  is  no  un- 
usual number,  and  when  there  is  a  house  party  as 
many  as  a  hundred  are  often  assembled,  for  each 
guest  brings  his  Own  servant,  and  the  various  valets 
and  maids,  the  extra  coachmen  and  grooms,  make 
up  a  company  that  rivals  the  array  in  the  drawing- 
room  for  pretension  and  pride.  For  all  these — 
especially  the  upper  servants — must  be  placed  ac- 
cording to  the  rank  of  their  masters.  The  servant 
of  a  duke,  of  course,  precedes  the  servant  of  an 
earl,  and  the  valet  of  an  ambassador  naturally  goes 
before  the  gentleman  of  a  mere  envoy.  They  are 
usually  called  by  the  names  of  their  masters,  so  as 
to  settle  at  once  this  point  of  precedence. 

I  was  once  staying  at  a  little  inn  near  Tintern 
Abbey  that  I  used  to  frequent,  when  a  coach  and 
four  drove  up  with  a  party  of  people  who  stopped 
for  beer.  It  was  a  stately  establishment,  with  liv- 
eries and  horses  all  very  smart,  and  I  could  hear  the 


PKECEDENCE    IN    THE    SERVANTS'    HALL.         105 

occupants  address  each  other  as  "  Lady  Kitty  "  and 
"  Sir  George,"  and  even  "Your  Grace"  and  "  Your 
Excellency."  I  was  new  in  England  then,  and 
looked  out  of  my  window  to  survey  the  aristocrats. 
They  struck  nie  as  rather  gay  in  their  dress  and  not 
so  subdued  in  manner  as  those  I  had  met  in  society, 
and  when  the  coach  drove  off  I  asked  the  landlord 
who  they  were.  "  Oh,"  he  replied,  "  they  are  the 
servants  at  the  Duke  of  Beaufort's,  who  lives  near 
here.  He  has  lent  them  one  of  his  coaches  for  a 
holiday." 

I  asked  my  own  valet  about  this  fashion  of  names, 
and  he  assured  me  it  was  common  for  servants  to 
call  each  other  in  this  way.  Not  long  afterward  I 
was  visiting  at  a  country-house,  w^here  one  after- 
noon the  gentlemen  went  for  a  walk.  I  wanted  my 
hat  or  my  cane,  and  asked  the  groom  of  the  cham- 
bers to  call  my  man.  As  he  went  off  I  stood  wait- 
ing at  the  door  and  heard  him  calling  my  own  name 
through  the  corridor  to  summon  my  man. 

I  learned  a  lesson  about  my  own  degree  at  Pow- 
derhain  Castle,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Devon.  I 
was  a  Secretary  of  Legation  at  the  time,  and  was  vis- 
iting the  house  with  Mr.  Motley,  then  the  American 
Minister,  and  my  man  came  to  me  in  great  dudgeon 
one  day  to  complain.  Mr.  Motley's  valet,  he  said, 
had  introduced  him  in  the  servants'  hall  as  "  our 
Secretary's  servant." 

This  man  of  mine  took  his  own  dress-coat  when  we 


106  AEISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

went  visiting,  as  regularly  as  he  took  mine.  All  the 
upper  men-servants,  he  said,  were  expected  to  wear 
dress-coats  to  dinner,  and  in  some  houses  the  ladies' 
maids  wore  low-bodied  gowns  and  gloves.  I  did 
not  believe  him,  and  asked  a  friend  of  mine,  the 
daughter  of  a  marquis,  and  herself  the  head  of  a 
great  establishment.  She  told  me  she  did  not  ap- 
prove the  custom,  and  would  not  countenance  it 
with  her  own  servants ;  but  that  there  were  ducal 
houses  in  which  an  allowance  was  made  to  the 
ladies'  maids  and  the  housekeepers  for  gloves  to 
wear  to  dinner. 

This  recalls  a  storj  about  the  Queen.  Her  Maj- 
esty once  observed  that  one  of  her  maids  of  honor 
wore  soiled  gloves,  and  was  told  that  the  lady  was 
poor  and  could  not  afford  fresh  gloves  every  time 
she  went  on  duty — at  least  on  four  hundred  pounds 
a  year.  Thereupon  the  Queen  added  to  the  lady's 
stipend,  with  the  express  understanding  that  the 
gloves  were  to  be  renewed  for  every  occasion  of  cere- 
mony. Thus  superiors  regard  the  incomes  of  their 
attendants  as  well  as  their  own  state,  all  the  way  up 
and  down  the  scale. 

For  the  Queen  doubtless  looks  upon  her  servants 
as  a  duchess  does  upon  hers ;  unless,  indeed,  the 
distance  between  the  Queen  and  a  duchess  is  greater 
than  that  between  the  duchess  and  her  maid.  At 
the  time  of  the  engagement  of  the  Princess  Louise 
a  story  was  current  which   shows  what  the  higb 


PRECEDENCE    IN    THE    SERVANTS'    HALL.  107 

English  believe  to  be  the  feeling  of  the  Queen.  In 
the  royal  establishment  there  is  a  separate  table  for 
the  household,  at  which  even  the  minister  in  attend- 
ance eats  when  he  is  not  invited  to  the  Queen's, 
According  to  gossip,  Lord  Lome  went  to  lunch  with 
his  future  wife,  and  was  asked  to  the  table  of  Her 
Majesty.  His  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Argyll,  was 
mistress  of  the  robes,  and  when  he  entered  the 
Queen's  dining-room.  Lord  Lome  asked  :  "Where  is 
the  Duchess  ? "  "  Oh !  she  is  lunchino-  with  the 
household," 

But  to  return  to  the  servants'  hall.  When  I  went 
to  Dunrobin  with  General  Grant,  it  was  convenient 
for  me  to  take  a  footman,  and  General  Grant  had  a 
courier.  Now,  a  footman  in  livery  is  not  an  upper 
servant,  but,  unmindful  of  this  important  regula- 
tion, I  had  put  my  man  into  plain  clothes.  In  con- 
sequence, he  was  supposed  to  be  a  valet,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  august  society  of  the  housekeeper's 
room.  All  went  well  in  the  borrowed  state  tiU  he 
quarrelled  with  the  courier,  who  then  revealed  that 
James  was  a  mere  liveried  servant,  and  the  poor 
fellow  was  relegated  to  the  hall.  It  was  worse  than 
being  degraded  from  the  diplomatic  coi-ps  to  the 
general  circle  at  court, 

I  was  staying  once  at  a  house  where  there  had 
been  a  grand  quarrel  between  the  maids  of  Lady 
Torrington  and  Lady  Molesworth,  Lord  Torring- 
ton  was  a  viscount  and  Lady  Molesworth  only  the 


108  AKISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

M'idow  of  a  baronet.  But  the  Torringtons  were 
poor  and  Lady  Molesworth  was  very  ricli ;  it  was 
said  tliat  Lord  Torringtun  managed  her  estates  for 
her.  Upon  this  her  Abigail  presumed,  vainly  sup- 
posing with  the  pride  of  wealth  that  her  mistress 
was  superior  in  consequence  to  those  who  belonged 
to  the  peerage.  She  was  absolutely  about  to  take 
precedence  as  they  went  in  to  dinner.  But  Lady 
Torrington's  maid  haughtily  thrust  her  back,  and 
exclaimed :  "  You  are  only  the  servant  of  a  baro- 
net's widow,  and  my  mistress  is  the  wife  of  the 
Right  Honorable  Viscount  Torrington,  Lord  in 
Waiting  to  Her  Majesty."  Of  course  the  superior 
claim  was  allowed,  and  Lady  Molesworth's  maid  re- 
mained behind  in  merited  confusion.  The  story 
reached  the  upper  regions,  where  it  created  a  deal  of 
laughter,  but  no  one  seemed  to  suppose  it  reflected 
any  ridicule  on  real  rank.  The  distinctions  in  the 
drawing-room  are  important ;  only  those  in  the  ser- 
vants' hall  are  trivial. 

Lord  Derby  was  a  visitor  at  this  same  house,  a 
castle  in  the  Highlands,  and  when  he  was  about  to 
leave,  his  valet  was  toasted  at  dinner.  The  states- 
man is  quiet  and  reserved  in  the  last  degree,  dislikes 
parade,  and  avoids  speeches  whenever  it  is  possible. 
So  when  the  Earl  of  Derby's  name  was  "men- 
tioned" in  the  hall,  his  man  arose,  put  both  hands 
on  the  table  after  the  fashion  of  the  Earl,  bowed 
first  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left,  and  sat  down 


PRECEDENCE    IN   THE   SERVANTS'    HALL.  109 

witliout  saying  a  word.  The  fellow  had  borrowed 
his  master's  manner  as  well  as  his  name.  How  the 
report  of  this  incident  reached  the  host  I  cannot  say, 
but  he  told  it  to  me. 

I  once  went  to  a  wedding  breakfast  in  the  ser- 
vants' hall.  It  was  at  a  house  in  Wales.  The  bride 
had  been  the  nursery  maid  of  one  of  the  children, 
and  the  bridegroom  was  a  young  farmer  on  the 
estate ;  for  in  England  domestic  service  is  not  con- 
sidered degrading.  The  farmers  and  small  trades- 
men are  on  a  level  with  the  ordinary  servants  in  a 
great  lionse,  and  quite  look  up  to  the  housekeeper 
and  the  butler.  They  all  say  "  sir"  and  "ma'am" 
to  these  great  personages  just  as  the  nobility  do  to 
the  Princes  and  the  Queen. 

Even  persons  of  consideration  in  the  middle  class 
associate  with  the  servants  of  the  higher  aristoc- 
racy. Some  years  ago  I  was  visiting  at  a  house 
near  one  of  the  most  important  towns  in  middle 
England,  and  went  into  the  town  to  consult  a 
doctor.  He  was  an  accomplished  man,  and  I  had 
an  extremely  interesting  conversation  with  him. 
When  I  left  he  said  I  needed  further  treatment, 
and  asked  me  where  he  should  call.  I  answered, 
"At  Bretton  Park."  "What!"  he  exclaimed. 
"  Are  you  stopping  there  ?  Why,  I  visit  their 
butler."  The  awe  with  which  he  regarded  a  guest 
at  Bretton  was  amusing. 

I    had    another    acquaintance   whom    I    highly 


110  ARISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

esteemed,  a  very  respectable  Englishman,  who  be- 
longed to  the  middle  class.  I  was  once  telling  him 
of  a  visit  I  had  paid  to  a  Yorkshire  nobleman,  and 
he  said  he  knew  the  butler  well ;  he  often  went  to 
see  him,  and  the  butler  always  got  out  some  very 
choice  port,  for  my  friend  was  a  judge  of  wine. 
One  day  when  he  was  praising  the  brand  the  butler 
exclaimed:  "  What  would  his  lordship  give  for  a 
bottle  of  this  wine  ? "  I  always  wanted  to  tell  this 
story  to  my  host,  but  I  thought  it  would  be  a  breach 
of  confidence  toward  the  butler. 

But  the  wedding  waits  all  this  while.  The 
family  was  Catholic,  but  they  were  Squires  of  the 
parish  all  the  same,  and  had  their  pew  in  the  pai-ish 
church,  though  they  never  went  to  service.  Mass 
was  said  for  them  in  a  private  chapel  in  the  house. 
This  morning,  however,  the  young  ladies  went  to 
the  marriage,  and  took  me  with  them  as  a  guest. 
The  pew  was  in  the  chancel,  within  the  altar  rails, 
and  we  had  a  good  view  of  the  bride.  The  village 
girls  strewed  flowers  in  her  way,  and  she  was 
buxom  and  as  blushing  as  if  of  higher  degree. 
After  the  ceremony  the  young  squire,  a  lad  of 
seventeen,  invited  me  to  the  breakfast.  There  was 
an  Italian  baron  also  on  a  ^nsit  at  the  house,  and  the 
occasion  was  as  curious  to  him  as  to  the  American 
democrat ;  so  he  accompanied  us. 

The  servants  were  about  forty  in  number,  and 
sat  at  a  table  shaped  like  an  L,  the  upper  servants, 


PRECEDENCE    IN   THE    SERVANTS'  HALL.  Ill 

of  course,  at  the  upper  end,  and  the  others  below 
the  corner.  When  we  entered  thej  all  rose  and  re- 
mained standing  while  the  young  squire  toasted  the 
bride.  The  baron  and  I  drank  her  health  in  some 
very  good  sherry  which  the  servants  were  allowed 
for  the  occasion.  The  youngster  spoke  of  the 
regret  he  felt  in  losing  a  faithful  servant  of  his 
house ;  at  this  the  little  boy,  whose  nurse  she  had 
been,  and  who  sat  next  her  at  table,  put  his  arm 
around  the  bride,  and  she  whimpered,  and  so  did  the 
housemaids  all  down  the  line,  and  the  bridegroom 
looked  as  if  he  thought  this  wasn't  fair.  But  the 
heir,  with  great  tact  for  one  so  young,  and  an 
Englishman,  too,  hastened  to  say  that,  since  she 
was  to  leave  them,  it  was  pleasant  to  think  she 
had  become  the  wife  of  one  of  their  own  farmers, 
known  to  them  for  his  honesty,  and  so  forth,  and 
so  on.  Then  the  bridegroom  blushed,  and  every- 
body was  satisfied.  As  we  were  leaving  the  room 
the  procession  of  upper  servants  started  off  in  state, 
but  I  saw  my  poor  James,  who  had  once  been 
allowed  to  accompany  them,  remaining  behind  in 
his  livery. 

Afterward  we  had  our  luncheon,  and  then  there 
was  a  dance  on  the  lawn  ;  and  the  ladies,  the  baron, 
and  I  were  there  to  see.  There  was  a  blind  harper, 
for  it  was  Wales,  and  the  dance  was  Sir  Eoger  de 
Coverley,  which,  for  those  who  may  need  the  infor- 
mation, I  will  say  is  the  same  with  the  Virginia 


112  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

reel.  The  bridegroom  led  off  with  one  of  the 
daughters  of  the  house,  the  young  squire  took  out 
the  bride,  and  the  baron  and  I  had  our  pick  of  the 
housemaids  for  partners ;  and  mine  was  as  rosy 
and  pretty  an  English  girl  as  ever  I  danced  with  at 
court. 


XL 

THE  HOUSE   OF  LORDS. 

In  all  social  matters  the  aristocracy  retains  its 
old  supremacy,  but  in  politics  the  sceptre  has  de- 
parted from  Judah.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  passage 
of  the  Reform  bill  in  1832  the  political  influence  of 
the  peers  was  paramount ;  but  since  that  epoch  it 
has  waned.  The  nobility,  it  is  true,  like  the  Queen, 
still  wears  the  insignia  of  power,  but  the  only  use 
of  the  coronet  now  is  to  put  it  on  the  coiSn.  The 
House  of  Lords,  it  is  true,  is  one  of  the  estates  of 
the  realm ;  its  assent  is  nominally  indispensable  to 
the  validity  of  every  law  ;  but  both  Crown  and  peers 
are  dragged  at  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  Commons. 
The  Lords  make  a  good  fight;  they  die  hard,  but 
their  political  decadence  is  undoubted.  The  most 
august  assemblage  in  Europe,  as  Britons  like  to  call 
the  House  of  Lords,  is  only  a  body  to  register  the 
decrees  of  the  Lower  Chamber ;  and  if  it  dares  dis- 
pute the  will  of  the  Prime  Minister  or  the  Commons, 
it  is  threatened  with  an  invasion  of  new  members, 
to  which  the  irruptions  of  the  barbarians  into  the 
Roman  Senate  or  the  Parisian  mob  into  the  various 
8 


114  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

French  assemblies  were  antecedents  and  parallels. 
These  ancient  and  foreign  assaults  preceded  revolu- 
tion, and  the  British  aristocrats  know  the  signs, 
and  yield. 

Ever  since  the  memorable  battle  between  William 
lY.  and  his  ministers,  in  1832,  and  the  determina- 
tion of  Lord  Grey  to  create  peers  in  sufficient  num- 
bers to  carry  the  Reform  bill,  the  House  of  Lords 
has  recognized  its  subordinate  position.  After  re- 
peated struggles,  after  rejecting  the  bill  again  and 
again,  after  dissolutions  of  Parliament  and  changes 
of  the  ministry,  after  general  elections,  which  tri- 
umphantly supported  the  measure  for  extending 
representation,  the  Lords  were  still  obstinate.  The 
King  was  on  their  side,  but  the  people  were  deter- 
mined, and,  for  the  second  time  in  English  history. 
King  and  Lords  found  themselves  weaker  than  the 
Commons.  Charles  I.  was  the  principal  personage 
in  the  contest  of  his  day,  and  the  nobility  stood 
behind  him  ;  two  hundred  years  later  it  was  the 
Lords  who  led  the  defence,  while  the  King  was  in 
the  background,  although  an  ardent  ally.  At  last 
the  Prime  Minister,  himself  an  earl,  advised  the 
King  to  create  a  sufficient  number  of  peers  to  turn 
the  scale,  but  the  King  refused.  Thereupon  the 
Ministry  resigned,  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
undertook  to  form  a  new  Government  and  stem  the 
tide.  But  he  also  proved  powerless.  The  former 
ministry  returned,  and  William  IV.  made  his  sub- 


THE    HOUSE   OF   LORDS.  115 

mission  in  these  words :  "  The  King  grants  permis- 
sion to  Earl  Grej  and  to  his  Chancellor,  Lord 
Brougham,  to  create  such  a  number  of  peers  as  will 
be  sufficient  to  insure  the  passing  of  the  Reform 
bill."  Upon  this,  rather  than  be  overwhelmed  bj 
the  new  creations,  a  majority  of  the  Opposition  ab- 
sented themselves  from  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the 
bill  was  passed.  It  was  known  then  that  the  aris- 
tocracy of  England  would  never  again  be  able  seri- 
ously to  withstand  the  will  of  the  people.  The 
knell  of  their  political  power  had  sounded. 

They  retain,  nevertheless,  all  their  conservative 
instincts,  and  rally  round  a  sinking  cause  with  a 
devotion  which  one  cannot  but  admire.  Nohlesse 
oblige^  and  the  latest  additions,  the  grandsons  of 
barbers  and  tailors,  are  as  inflexible  in  their  loyalty 
to  their  order  as  those  descended  from  the  Plantag- 
enets.  Even  Mr.  Gladstone's  creations  desert  him 
on  the  first  opportunity ;  the  very  colleagues  of  his 
cabinet,  the  Radicals  of  the  Radicals,  go  over  to  the 
enemy  when  once  they  get  within  the  precincts  and 
the  influence  of  the  House  of  Lords.  For  the  peers 
vote  in  solid  phalanx ;  perhaps  too  solidly  or  stolidly. 
They  cannot  see  that  sometimes  to  yield  a  little 
would  be  to  save  a  little.  Their  instinct  is  to  defend 
every  outwork,  to  repel  every  assault. 

But  it  is  only  when  their  rank  or  their  retroactive 
policy  is  in  danger  that  they  pay  much  attention  to 
politics.     Shorn   of   their   ancient   influence,    they 


116  ARISTOCliACY  LN    ENGLAND. 

probably  dislike  to  be  constantly  reminded  of  their 
insignificance,  and  are  apparently  indifferent  to  the 
ordinary  course  of  public  affairs.  Some  of  this  in- 
difference, it  is  true,  may  proceed  from  senility.  Of 
those  who  attend  the  House  of  Lords  one-fifth  have 
passed  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten,  thirty-seven 
are  upward  of  seventy  five,  and  twenty-three  are 
octogenarians.  The  average  age  of  a  peer  is  fifty- 
eight.  Bouvier  defines  senility  to  be  "  a  loss  of 
energy  in  some  of  the  intellectual  operations,  while 
the  affections  remain  natural  and  unperverted." 
This  exactly  describes  the  condition  of  the  ancient 
peers,  if  not  of  the  entire  venerable  body,  whose 
affections  still  cling  to  their  former  consequence, 
though  their  intellect  and  energy  are  insuificient  to 
retain  it. 

But  incapacity  as  much  as  decrepitude  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  apathy  of  the  Lords.  The  ability  of  the 
peerage  is  for  the  most  part  confined  to  the  men 
who  have  forced  their  way  into  it.  Out  of  twenty- 
eight  dukes  only  one  has  shown  marked  political 
intelligence,  and  he  would  hardly  have  attracted 
attention  had  he  been  born  in  a  lower  degree.  Of 
alLthe  other  nobles  long  descended  Lord  Derby  and 
Lord  Salisbury  only  are  prominent,  and  these 
cognate  statesmen  themselves  can  hardly  be  called 
men  of  genius.  Clever  men,  it  is  true,  do  not 
abound  in  any  class  of  life,  and  Diogenes  needed 
his  lamp  on  the  outside  of  the  House  of  Lords ;  but 


THE    HOUSE   OF   LORDS.  117 

the  peers  are  the  aristoi.,  the  best ;  the  legislators 
for  a  nation.  They  have  every  advantage  of  educa- 
tion, association  with  the  ablest,  early  and  wide 
experience  of  affairs,  the  habit  of  authority,  the 
confidence  of  their  equals,  the  deference  of  the 
mass ;  yet  the  body  is  not  even  second  rate  in 
business  capacity  or  political  tact,  to  say  nothing  of 
intellectual  acquirement  or  power.  The  peers  enjoy 
but  do  not  employ  their  splendid  opportunities. 
The  younger  ones  make  no  pretence  of  fitting 
themselves  for  their  functions.  I  knew,  indeed,  one 
eldest  son  of  an  earl  who  went  as  a  clerk  in  a  gov- 
ernment office,  to  learn  government  business,  but  I 
never  heard  of  another,  and  he  soon  grew  tired  of 
the  drudgery  and  returned  to  his  yacht  and  his 
drag.  The  cadets  of  great  houses  sometimes  devote 
themselves  to  politics,  but  the  heirs  can  dispense 
with  the  efibrt,  for  they  will  be  peers  all  the  same. 

Even  the  additions  to  the  peerage  seldom  display 
ability  after  they  enter  the  charmed  portals.  Sir 
Stafibrd  Northcote  and  Mr.  Lowe  were  both  consid- 
ered shelved  when  they  were  turned  into  peers. 
Their  promotion  was  their  greatest  defeat.  The 
House  of  Lords  was  called  the  Hospital  for  Incur- 
ables in  Horace  "Walpole's  time.  What  would  he 
have  christened  it  to-day  ? 

Besides  all  this,  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  genius, 
though  it  may  be  ennobled,  is  rarely  transmitted. 
It  is  the  title,  not  the  talent,  that  is  hereditary.    No 


118  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

descendant  of  a  Lord  Chancellor  has  ever  rivalled 
his  ancestor,  and  of  all  the  successors  of  those  whose 
ability  raised  them  to  the  House  of  Lords,  only  one 
is  famous  to-day.  Instead  of  fostering  or  developing 
talent,  rank  seems  to  have  a  crushing  or  withering 
influence,  and  the  aristocracy  is  decidedly  less  brill- 
iant since  it  has  been  extended. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  peers  are  wise, 
perhaps,  to  accept  the  situation.  How  should  they 
fight  when  they  have  no  weapons?  In  1878  there 
were  only  four  divisions,  as  the  formal  votings  are 
called,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  these  were  on 
questions  of  minor  importance.  In  1879,  when 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  Government  was  at  stake, 
only  about  half  of  the  peers  conld  be  found  to 
attend  four  divisions.  Thirty-five  peers  were  absent 
altogether  from  1875  to  1880.  In  1877  it  was  con- 
sidered remarkable  that  the  average  attendance  of 
peers  was  close  upon  one  hundred  during  the  fifty- 
two  sittings  before  Easter,  and  there  are  six  hun- 
dred members  of  the  House.  In  1881  their  ad- 
mirers boasted  that  "  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
peers  address  the  House  each  session,  and  half 
the  debates  go  on  until  close  upon  the  dinner 
hour ! "  which  is  eight  o'clock.  The  Lords  meet 
at  five. 

It  is  seldom  indeed  that  the  state  of  the  country 
detains  the  hereditary  legislator  from  his  evening 
meal.     Dinner  parties  in  London  are  made  with 


THE    HOUSE    OF    LORDS.  119 

reference  to  the  hours  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  does  not  sit  on  Wednesdays  or  Saturdays, 
and  there  are  five  invitations  for  those  evenings  to 
one  for  any  other.  But  you  can  catch  your  lord  for 
any  night;  he  is  never  prevented  by  public  busi- 
ness— at  least,  not  three  times  in  a  session. 

An  ordinary  sitting  of  the  House  of  Lords  is  a 
dull  and  dreary  ceremony.  The  hall  is  lofty,  and 
in  the  dim  light  of  an  English  afternoon  reminds 
one  of  some  stately  vault  where  the  remains  of  the 
ancestral  institution  may  be  imagined  to  repose.  A 
few  straggling  gentlemen  are  seated  on  the  benches, 
some  mumbling  remarks  are  made,  some  antiquated 
form  gone  through  in  the  darkness — a  new  peer 
is  perhaps  presented  in  his  robes,  or  a  bill  comes  up 
from  the  Commons — and  the  august  assembly  ad- 
journs. The  business  of  the  House  is  carried  on  by 
thirty  or  forty  peers,  and  these,  with  rare  exceptions, 
maintain  the  debates  of  the  session.  The  uni- 
formity of  costume  is  broken  only  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor  as  he  enters  or  leaves  with  his  robes  and 
his  train-bearer,  or  the  ghostly  bishops  who  sit  on 
benches  by  themselves,  in  their  lawn  sleeves.  The 
mover  and  seconder  of  an  address  that  is  offered  to 
the  Queen  at  the  opening  of  every  session  are  al- 
ways in  levee  dress — for  they  are  supposed  to  stand 
in  the  presence  of  Majesty,  though  Majesty  never 
is  there — but  otherwise  the  peers  are  plainly  clad, 
the  older  ones,  as  a  rule,  unfashionably,  and  more 


120  AKISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

than  half  of  tliem  wear  their  hats.  All  is  dismal, 
decorous,  and  funereal. 

I  have,  however,  seen  the  chamber  filled  in  every 
seat,  and  the  peeresses'  gallery  crowded.  When  an 
opportunity  occurs  to  signify  their  opposition  to  a 
liberal  measure  the  Lords  turn  out  in  force,  and  if, 
as  once  in  a  very  great  while  happens,  the  sitting  is 
late,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  peers  come  in  from 
dinner  in  laces  and  diamonds,  while  the  peers  them- 
selves on  these  occasions  are  often  in  evening  dress 
on  the  floor.  After  some  bill  to  which  their  lord- 
ships are  opposed  has  passed  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, the  patricians  proceed  to  set  forth  their  argu- 
ments elaborately,  and  sometimes  violently. .  I  have 
been  present  at  as  heated  discussions  in  the  aristo- 
cratic chamber  as  ever  I  witnessed  in  the  American 
Capitol. 

When  the  bill  to  disestablish  the  Irish  Church 
was  debated,  the  Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
stood  on  the  steps  of  the  throne  in  an  excited  House 
while  Lord  Salisbury  denounced  him  in  terms  as  an 
"  arrogant  man,"  and  every  one  turned  to  see  how 
he  took  it.  For  tiiere  is  no  admission  to  the  floor 
of  the  House  for  ministers  who  are  not  peers. 
Privy  Councillors,  the  eldest  sons  of  peers,  and 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  may  stand  on  the 
steps  of  the  throne ;  and,  if  the  session  is  long  and 
they  become  fatigued,  these  personages  often  sit  or 
squat  in  extremely  undignified  postures  behind  the 


THE    HOUSE   OF    LOKDS.  121 

railings  that  surround  the  sovereign's  seat.  In  this 
waj  the  Prime  Minister  who  had  created  thirty  or 
forty  peers  in  his  time,  and  could  have  doubled  the 
number  had  he  chosen,  had  no  seat  in  the  aristo- 
cratic presence,  and  remained  standing  while  he 
was  berated  by  a  member  of  the  nobility. 

Not  only  Individuals,  but  the  Commons  them- 
selves, the  coordinate  branch  of  the  Legislature, 
have  no  place  assigned  them  in  the  Upper  Chamber, 
except  at  the  entrance  and  below  the  bar;  a  relic 
this  of  the  ancient  arrogance  with  which  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  were  treated  by  the  peers. 
Even  when  the  Commons  are  summoned  to  hear 
the  reading  of  a  speech  or  message  from  the  throne, 
no  seats  are  allowed  them ;  they  rush  in  from  their 
own  House,  pell-mell  and  headlong,  like  a  parcel  of 
schoolboys,  to  secure  a  place  as  near  as  possible  to 
the  bar  which  divides  them  from  the  nobility. 

On  the  night  I  speak  of  Dean  Stanley  was  on 
the  steps  of  the  throne  by  favor,  for  he  had  many 
friends  among  the  ushers,  and  "black  rods,"  as 
well  as  among  the  Lords.  He  took  me  in  to  dine 
with  him  at  the  deanery,  wliich  is  close  to  the  Par- 
liament houses.  One  of  the  Irish  archbishops  whose 
fate  was  at  stake  accompanied  ns,  for  the  debate 
was  closing  and  a  division  was  imminent,  and  no- 
body wished  to  go  far  to  dinner.  The  Dean  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  the  prelate,  and  said  to  me  sadly 
that  this  migrht  be  the  last  occasion  w^ien  the  arch- 


122  ARISTOCRACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

bishop  would  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords.  It  was 
like  dining  with  a  man  before  his  execution.  But 
the  archbishop  was  brave  and  talked  on  indifferent 
topics  with  the  American  democrat. 

That  night  members  who  rarely  or  never  set  foot 
in  the  House  of  Lords  were  present  in  scores,  but  at 
ordinary  divisions  the  number  who  vote,  small  as  it 
is  compared  with  the  aggregate  of  the  peers,  is  col- 
lected only  by  the  energetic  pressure  of  the  poli- 
tician called  the  "whip,"  because  he  whips  the 
noblemen  in.  The  peers  seem  to  value  their  privi- 
lege principally  as  a  means  of  asserting  their  opin- 
ions when  these  are  opposed  to  the  policy  certain  in 
the  end  to  prevail. 

"While  I  was  in  England  the  Lords,  as  a  body,  re- 
sisted every  step  in  the  direction  of  progress  or 
reform.  They  opposed  the  ballot,  the  educational 
system  now  in  force,  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Irish  Church,  the  abolition  of  purchase  in  the 
armv,  and  every  measure  calculated  to  extend  the 
suftrage,  to  favor  the  sale  of  land,  or  to  modify  the 
condition  of  Ireland ;  yet  in  every  case  they  were 
obliged  to  yield.  Not  long  ago  Mr.  Gladstone  de- 
clared :  "  Only  for  fifteen  years  of  the  last  fifty  has 
the  ministry  of  the  day  possessed  the  confidence  of 
the  House  of  Lords;"  that  is,  only  for  fifteen 
years  out  of  fifty  has  the  House  of  Lords  been  in 
harmony  with  the  Government  which  represented 
the  judgment  and  will  of  the  people  of  England. 


THE    HOUSE    OF    LORDS.  123 

If  all  modern  ideas  are  not  wrong,  if  liberalism 
does  not  lead,  as  the  peers  believe,  only  to  revolu- 
tion, corruption,  and  anarchy,  the  condition  of  Eng- 
land has  improved  since  the  overthrow  of  the  Lords. 
By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  The  catalogue 
of  reforms  which  they  have  opposed  proves  not  only 
their  impotence  in  actual  politics,  but  the  unfavor- 
able nature  of  such  influence  as  they  still  retain. 
This  is  shown  not  only  negatively  by  what  they 
have  been  unable  to  accomplish,  but  by  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country  without  them  or  in  spite  of 
them.  Since  political  power  has  passed  into  other 
hands  the  population  of  England  has  doubled,  its 
wealth  has  quintupled,  its  commerce  has  extended 
beyond  comparison,  its  manufactures  have  crowded 
the  shops  and  warehouses  of  the  world.  The  mate- 
rial comfort  of  the  people  of  every  class  has  been 
marvellously  increased,  education  has  been  more 
widely  diffused,  and  whatever  goes  to  make  up  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  a  nation  has  been 
furthered  and  promoted  since  the  downfall  of  the 
Lords. 

Newspapers  in  their  present  stage  of  develop- 
ment, navigation  by  steam,  railroads,  telegraphs, 
the  various  and  extended  uses  of  electricity — all 
have  come  into  existence  under  the  new  order  of 
things  ;  all  are  the  inventions  or  improvements  of 
the  middle  class  ;  all  are  the  natural  and  legitimate 
result  of  the  great  measures  which  the  House  of 


124  AEISTOCKACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

Lords  resisted.  Meanwhile,  the  grandeur  of  the 
empii'e  is  in  no  way  diminished ;  the  influence  of 
England  is  as  potent  as  in  any  previous  era ;  her 
boundaries  are  widened  ;  in  Africa  and  Asia  she 
stretches  out  her  territories.  But  her  best  soldiers 
are  not  the  sons  of  lords ;  her  lawyers  spring  from 
the  middle,  or  even  the  lower,  class ;  her  merchant 
princes  may  not  be  presented  at  court ;  her  men  of 
letters  and  science  and  art  are  not  aristocrats ;  her 
greatest  Prime  Minister  for  a  generation  refuses  to 
be  a  peer. 


XII. 
THE   PRINCESS  OF   WALES. 

It  is  sixteen  years  since  I  was  presented  to  the 
Princess  of  Wales.  The  beauty  of  the  royal  Dane 
was  then  in  all  its  freshness,  and  I  was  struck  with 
the  stately  presence,  the  speaking  eye,  the  winning 
smile,  the  appearance  of  intelligence,  as  well  as  by 
the  affability  of  manner,  wliicb  at  that  time  was 
marked,  but  has  not  always  been  so  conspicuous 
since.  The  long  succession  of  salutations  and  cere- 
monies, the  ever-recurring  necessity  for  graciousness 
probably  becomes  irksome  at  times.  I  once  heard  a 
court  lady  say  that  there  is  always  something  of  the 
pump-handle  in  royal  civilities.  But,  if  wearisome  to 
dispense,  they  are  often  refreshing  to  the  recipient. 

The  Princess  is  more  like  a  princess  in  appear- 
ance and  bearing  than  any  other  I  have  seen  ;  far 
transcending  her  higher-born  sisters-in-law,  the 
daughters  of  the  Queen  and  the  Duchess  of  Edin- 
burgh ;  and  quite  equal  to  any  princess  of  the  stage 
or  the  story-books.  Yet  she  was  born  the  daughter 
of  an  obscure  half-German  duke,  without  a  proba- 
bility of  ever  becoming  royal.     Ten  years  after  she 


126  AEISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

came  into  the  world  it  was  agreed  bj  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  that  her  father  should  be  King 
in  Denmark,  on  the  death  of  the  sovereign  then 
reigning ;  and  he  still  had  not  arrived  at  this  dig- 
nity when  Alexandra  was  sought  and  won  by  the 
heir  to  the  English  throne.  Denmark  itself  is  no 
great  things  in  the  way  of  a  kingdom,  but  Sles- 
wig-Holstein-SonderbourgGliicksbourg,  the  pater- 
nal duchy  of  the  future  Queen  consort  of  England, 
was  still  more  inconsiderable.  Her  mother  and 
grandmother  were  both  petty  princesses  of  Hesse- 
Cassel,  the  same  insignificant  little  State  whose  sol- 
diers were  sold  to  England,  to  fight  us  in  our  Revo- 
lutionary war,  so  that  blood  can  hardly  be  said  to 
tell  in  her  case.  It  is  not  inherited  grandeur  that 
gives  the  princely  air.  After  the  heavy  German 
procreators  had  done  their  part,  the  fairies  must 
have  brought  their  gifts  to  the  cradle. 

This  world  is  very  much  given  to  malice,  and 
high-bred  English  dames  are  not  alwaj^s  exempt 
from  the  failing.  The  Princess  is  invariably  well 
dressed ;  and  when  I  once  said  so,  a  great  lady  re- 
plied :  "  She  learned  how  to  dress  when  she  made 
her  own  bonnets  and  gowns,  on  a  hundred  a  year, 
before  her  father  was  King  of  Denmark."  It  was, 
indeed,  a  strange  fortune  that  raised  the  daughters 
of  Christian  IX.  to  two  of  the  proudest  positions  in 
Christendom.  One  is  already  Empress  of  All  the 
Russias,  and  the  other  is  mated  to  the  man  who 


THE   PRINCESS   OF    WALES.  127 

may,  one  day,  be  sovereign  of  England.  Such 
matches  have  not  often  been  made  by  portionless 
maidens.  But  the  heirs  apparent  to  these  great 
monarchies  both  wanted  consorts  who  were  not 
Catholic ;  and  marriageable  princesses  answering 
the  demand  were  scarce  when  the  Czarewitch  and 
the  Prince  of  Wales  arrived  at  their  majorities. 
The  sons  of  sovereigns,  however,  may  not  wait  long 
to  be  wived,  for  the  succession  must  be  settled ; 
so  the  two  ladies  stepped  from  their  obscurity  in 
Copenhagen  up  to  the  pinnacle  of  human  grandeur, 
outranking  and  overtopping  the  daughters  of  the 
very  potentates  who  had  made  their  father  royal. 
They  would,  doubtless,  at  one  time  have  thought 
themselves  honored  to  bear  the  trains  of  some  who 
are  now,  or  may  yet  be,  their  subjects. 

The  family  affection  of  these  fortunate  sisters  is 
strong.  They  cherish  the  recollection  of  their  early 
home  life,  and  like  to  go  back  to  little  Denmark 
with  their  children  and  spouses  and  throw  aside  for 
a  while  the  trappings  and  restraints  of  their  more 
recent  splendor ;  for  in  Copenhagen  the  King  and 
Queen  live  in  great  simplicity.  I  was  once  offered 
the  post  of  Minister  to  the  Danish  court,  and  in- 
formed myself  as  to  its  ways.  The  diplomatic 
corps,  I  was  told,  and  the  high  nobility  call  and 
take  tea  with  the  royal  family  of  an  afternoon.  The 
revenues  are  so  small,  that  the  life  at  the  palace  is 
necessarily  plain. 


128  AKISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAJJD. 

The  Czarevna  visited  the  Princess  of  Wales, 
while  her  husband  was  still  Czarewitch,  and  they 
made  a  sightly  picture  as  they  drove  about  London 
together  in  a  low,  open  carriage.  They  look  alike, 
though  the  Princess  is  tlie  prettier  and  by  far  the 
more  elegant.  The  English  common  people  like  to 
see  the  family  feeling  respected  by  the  highest,  and 
the  belief  that  their  future  Queen  is  a  good  sister 
and  daughter,  as  well  as  wife  and  mother,  adds  to 
her  liold  on  them. 

That  hold  is  certainly  strong.  ISTo  member  of 
the  royal  family  is  more  popular  with  the  country 
at  large ;  perhaps  none  is  so  popular.  The  people, 
of  course,  never  see  her,  except  in  public;  but 
daily,  in  the  "  season,"  they  assemble  at  the  gate  of 
Marlborough  House,  when  it  is  known  that  she  is 
to  drive ;  and  I  doubt  if  among  all  who  penetrate 
those  portals  the  Princess  has  warmer  admirers 
than  in  the  congregation  that  waits  on  the  outside. 
They  like  to  see  the  royal  children  in  her  company, 
and  the  Princess  often  takes  her  daughters  with 
her ;  sometimes,  doubtless,  to  gratify  the  common- 
alty as  well  as  herself  and  her  family.  She  dresses 
them  plainl}^ ;  their  hats  and  frocks  are  not  so 
smart  by  half  as  those  of  many  of  the  children  of 
wealthy  Londoners  who  may  never  go  to  court. 

At  one  time  there  were  stories  of  infidelity  on 
the  part  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  a  sort  of  sym- 
pathy was  aroused  for  the  wife  who,  it  was  fancied, 


THE    PEINCESS    OF    WALES.  129 

was  neglected;  but  the  Princess  always  behaved 
with  dignity.  If  she  thought  she  had  wrongs,  she 
betrayed  neither  resentment  nor  jealousy  to  the 
world,  and  at  last  it  became  a  question  whether  any 
dissatisfaction  had  ever  existed  on  her  part — a 
triumph  of  discretion  and  decorum  not  often  sur- 
passed. 

When  the  Prince  was  ill  she  watched  over  him 
with  every  demonstration  of  devotion,  and  was  as 
delighted  as  the  happiest  of  wives  when  at  last  he 
began  to  mend.  But,  alas  for  poor  human  nature ! 
her  anxiety  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  evidence  of 
affection,  for  she  would  never  have  been  Queen  of 
England  had  her  husband  died.  Had  he  been  the 
most  unfaithful  of  mankind  she  would  doubtless 
have  prayed  just  as  hard  for  his  recovery. 

At  this  crisis  she  received  the  greatest  possible 
proof  of  her  popularity.  She  was  universally  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  proper  person  to  be  named  for 
Kegent  in  case  the  Prince  should  die.  The  next 
heir  to  the  throne  must  then  have  had  a  long  mi- 
nority, and  it  was  indispensable  to  consider  the 
contingency  of  the  death  of  the  Queen.  The  ques- 
tion was  not  long  in  doubt.  A  few  words  were 
said  here  and  there  for  the  Dnke  of  Edinburgh,  but 
in  every  circle  and  class,  not  only  among  the  people 
of  rank  and  political  power  wdio  were  to  decide,  but 
in  the  press  and  with  the  country  at  large,  one  wish 
and  one  opinion  prevailed :  in  the  event  of  the 
9 


130  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

need  of  a  Regency,  the  Eegent  must  be  the  Prin- 
cess of  Wales. 

Perhaps  in  part  this  was  because  the  Princess 
has  never  been  credited  with  ability.  She  does  not 
lack  a  certain  intelligence,  I  am  told,  and  shows 
sufficient  interest  in  the  topics  that  come  up  at 
court ;  but  she  has  never  displayed  political  insight 
or  ambition.  She  has  neither  taste  nor  genius  for 
the  political  intrigues  in  which  so  many  princesses 
take  delight,  and  no  anxiety,  apparently,  to  influ- 
ence political  affairs.  Had  she  been  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  State  she  would  doubtless  have  done 
whatever  her  ministers  dictated  or  desired.  The 
Duke  of  Edinburgh,  on  the  contrary,  is  believed  to 
have  a  will  of  his  own,  and  a  sulky  disposition  be- 
sides, and  he  might  have  given  trouble.  He  has 
never  been  popular,  either  in  society  or  with  the 
people  at  large.  So  the  Princess  was  easily  suc- 
cessful, though  she  made  no  effort  to  secure  the 
prize. 

At  this  juncture  both  the  Queen  and  the  Princess 
exhibited  a  pathetic  and  beautiful  bit  of  womanly 
feeling  that  became  them  better  than  crown  or  cor- 
onet. One  of  the  young  grooms  at  Sandringham 
fell  ill  of  the  same  fever  of  which  the  Prince  of 
AVales  was  believed  to  be  dying,  and  these  royal 
ladies  visited  the  lad  in  his  room  at  the  stables,  sat 
by  his  bedside,  and  displayed,  and  doubtless  felt,  a 
very  touching  interest  in  the  youth  whose  pains 


THE    PRINCESS   OF    WALES.  131 

and  peril  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  heir  to 
mightiest  monarchies.  The  groom,  however,  died 
before  the  Prince  was  out  of  danger,  and  the  anx- 
ious Queen  and  her  sad  daughter-in-law  sent  their 
gentlemen  to  tlie  funeral,  while  the  Princess  stood 
at  the  window  to  watch  the  procession  as  it  bore 
the  body  to  that  dread  home  which  prince  and 
peasant  must  inhabit  at  last.  Touches  of  genuine 
feeling  like  this  endear  the  Queen  to  her  subjects, 
and  it  is  the  same  womanliness  in  the  Princess  that 
makes  her  popular  with  those  who  know  her  only 
from  afar. 

She  does  not,  however,  seem  to  attach  very 
closely  those  who  are  about  her  intimately.  I  have 
never  heard  these  speak  of  her  with  enthusiasm. 
The  people  at  court  all  call  her  amiable,  but  noth- 
ing more.  She  is  doubtless  a  woman  negative  in 
character  as  well  as  in  ability.  She  likes  the  com- 
pany of  her  favorites,  but  these  are  never  of  the 
very  brilliant  sort.  She  enjoys  the  opera  and  the 
theatre,  for  there  she  is  free  from  the  necessity  of 
dispensing  incessant  courtesies;  but  she  has  no 
pleasures  more  intellectual  than  these.  She  is  not 
accomplished,  beyond  speaking  several  languages, 
an  art  in  which  princes  are  always  supposed  to  be 
proficient.  She  has  heard  the  greatest  music  and 
seen  the  greatest  paintings,  and  knows  and  to  a 
degree  appreciates  both  music  and  the  pictorial  art ; 
but  this  is  all. 


132  ARISTOCRACY  m    ENGLAND. 

Her  temper  is  never  unfavorably  discussed,  and 
her  fame  is  as  unspotted  as  the  Queen's.  Her  tact 
is  on  most  occasions  sufficient,  but  never  supreme  ; 
it  never  rises  into  that  genius  for  society  and  affairs 
which  makes  a  great  woman  of  the  world.  On  the 
whole,  I  should  call  her  wooden  ;  a  beautiful,  grace- 
ful doll,  framed  to  perform  her  public  functions 
well;  but  she  has  hardly  any  others:  her  private 
life  is  a  matter  of  public  knowledge.  She  makes 
no  enemies  and  no  ardent  friends  ;  has  no  enthusi- 
asms herself,  and  evokes  none  in  others,  except  in 
those  who  are  not  close  enough  to  perceive  that  the 
automaton  is  wound  up  and  that  the  figure  has 
comparatively  little  heart;  perhaps  after  all  the 
very  best  sort  of  person  for  the  place  she  fills. 

She  is  deaf  and  lame,  but  the  mass  of  those  who 
are  in  her  presence  discover  neither  defect.  Louis 
XIV.,  though  below  the  medium  height,  is  said  to 
have  appeared  tall  to  his  obsequious  courtiers,  and 
so  the  Princess  seems  to  listen  and  not  to  limp. 
The  glamour  that  royalty  throws  around  her  con- 
ceals the  comparative  coldness  that  lies  beneath  a 
graceful  exterior,  while  her  intellectual  dulness  is 
disguised  under  the  dignified  decorums  of  a  court. 

The  Princess  has  apparently  no  personal  influence 
with  the  Queen.  Indeed,  although  no  shadow  of  a 
difference  has  even  been  apparent  or  suggested, 
there  is  certainly  no  conspicuous  intimacy  between 
these  august  kinswomen.    The  Princess  rarely  visits 


THE   PRINCESS    OF    WALES.  133 

the  Queen  at  Osborne  or  Balmoral ;  the  Queen  still 
more  rarely  goes  to  Sandringham  or  Abergeldie,  the 
seats  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  name  of  the 
Princess  does  not  appear  in  the  last  "  Leaves  from 
Our  Journal  in  the  Highlands,"  where  Her  Majesty 
catalogues  all  her  favorites,  from  royal  relatives 
down  to  gillies  and  collies.  The  sovereign's  o^Am 
daughters  arrange  her  robes  when  she  opens  Parlia- 
ment, but  this  graceful  duty  is  never  performed  by 
the  future  Queen. 

The  Princess,  however,  often  holds  drawing- 
rooms  in  the  absence  of  Her  Majesty.  She  repre- 
sents the  Queen  always  at  court  concerts  and  balls, 
and  sometimes  on  still  more  public  occasions.  There 
can,  of  course,  be  no  question  of  her  rank,  and  the 
Queen  is  too  rigid  in  her  regard  for  etiquette  to 
ignore  or  neglect  what  is  due  to  the  wife  of  her  heir 
apparent.  The  relations  between  the  ladies  are  all 
that  are  required,  but  in  this,  as  in  her  other  ex- 
cellencies, the  Princess  never  oversteps  the  limits  of 
moderation.  She  possesses,  indeed,  all  the  moderate 
virtues,  all  the  negative  qualities  desirable  in  her 
station ;  but  she  has  not  one  tithe  of  the  heart  of 
the  Queen,  or  of  the  faulty  Prince  of  Wales. 

She  lives  in  forms,  and  naturally  .thinks  much  of 
them.  Her  personal  attendants  are  required  to 
observe  every  punctilio.  She  goes  through  her  own 
part,  and  expects  them  to  do  the  same.  The  royal 
yacht  was  once  arriving  at  Cowes  with  the  Prince 


134  AKISTOCRACT   IN    ENGLAND. 

and  Princess  abroad,  and  an  immense  concourse 
awaited  tliem  at  the  landing.  But  the  Princess  had 
been  seasick  all  day,  and  was  not  recovered  when 
the  Prince  himself  came  to  fetch  her  to  meet  the 
multitude.  Her  ladies  assured  His  Royal  Highness 
that  their  mistress  was  unable  to  stand.  But  the 
excuse  could  not  be  accepted  ;  the  people  must  not 
be  disappointed ;  and  the  Princess  was  decked  in 
her  jewels  between  the  paroxysms  of  sickness,  and, 
pale  and  faint,  was  led  out  to  courtesy  and  smile  to 
her  future  subjects. 

If  etiquette  is  thus  inexorable  for  the  mistress,  it 
is,  of  course,  never  relaxed  for  the  maid.  A  count- 
ess whose  name  is  well  known  in  America  was  in 
attendance  on  the  Princess  at  Osborne,  when  a 
friend  of  mine  w^ent  to  call  on  her.  The  guest  was 
received  in  a  bedroom,  for  there  was  no  other  place 
reserved  for  the  ladies-in-waiting,  and  they  could 
not,  of  course,  entertain  their  acquaintances  in  the 
■  apartments  of  royalty.  While  the  two  ladies  were 
talking;  a  summons  came  for  the  countess.  "  The 
Princess  was  going  to  bathe."  "  But,  my  dear,  you 
do  not  bathe  because  the  Princess  does  ? "  "  Cer- 
tainly I  do."  "  But  you  are  not  well ;  you  may  be 
injured."  "  Ah  !  my  dear,  I  am  in  waiting."  And, 
as  there  was  but  one  room,  the  visitor  was  obliged 
to  leave,  while  the  countess  dressed  to  attend  the 
Princess  in  her  bath. 


XIII. 
AMERICAN    MINISTERS. 

I  SUPPOSE  a  man  can  hardly  be  American  Min- 
ister in  London  without  contracting  something  of 
the  aristocratic  feeling.  The  disease  is  in  the  air. 
Everything  fosters  the  delusion  that  he  belongs  to 
the  oligarchy.  His  precedence  is  defined ;  he  has 
his  place  in  every  pageant  or  parade ;  he  is  called 
"  His  Excellency  ;  "  his  carriage  need  not  stand  in 
the  rank  at  balls,  but  drives  magnificently  by  all 
the  lesser  nobility,  who  fall  back  to  let  him  pass. 
He  even  enters  the  ambassadors'  door  at  court.  The 
sturdiest  republican  soon  gets  used  to  the  deference, 
and  comes  to  think  it  appropriate  as  well  as  agree- 
able. I  heard  one  of  our  ministers  say  he  would 
rather  be  an  English  duke  than  anything  else  on 
earth,  and  another  declare  that  England  is  the  only 
country  in  which  a  gentleman  should  either  live  or 
die.  They  flatter  themselves  that  their  tendencies 
and  tastes  are  English,  but  it  is  aristocratic  English 
only ;  none  of  them  want  to  belong  to  the  middle 
class.  Whenever  they  can,  they  claim  connection 
with  the   aristocracy,  happy  if  they  can  trace  a 


136  AKI8T0CRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

pedigree  to  some  ignoble  offshoot  of  a  noble 
liouse,  which  repudiates  as  often  as  it  admits 
the  consanguinity;  or  prouder  of  a  descent  from 
a  country  squire  who  had  a  coat  of  arms  than  to 
bear  American  names  that  genius  has  made  illus- 
trious. 

'Tis  strange  the  effect  the  contact  has.  There 
have  been  American  Ministers  at  London  as  punc- 
tilious, as  exacting,  as  regardless  of  courtesy  when 
mere  etiquette  was  in  question,  as  any  of  their 
colleagues  in  the  corps.  I  have  known  them  wear 
knee-breeches  at  church  when  every  one  else  was 
in  plain  clothes,  and  insist  on  their  precedence 
with  all  the  pertinacity  of  peeresses  or  parvenus. 
There  was  once  a  question  of  the  rank  of  the 
daughters  of  diplomatists.  Several  of  the  ambassa- 
dors and  envoys  were  widowers,  and  in  society  their 
unmarried  daughters  had  long  been  allowed  the 
precedence  accorded  to  wives.  But  at  last  the 
wives  demurred,  and  the  mighty  matter  was  referred 
to  the  sovereign.  Before  the  decision  came  I  heard 
an  American  Minister  say  to  his  wife :  "  If  those 
girls  attempt  to  pass  before  you,  I  order  you  to  push 
them  back."  The  Queen,  however,  spoke  in  time, 
and  there  was  no  necessity  for  so  high-handed  a 
vindication  of  democratic  claims.  The  daughters 
of  a  diplomatist,  it  was  decreed,  possess  no  rank  at 
court.  If  they  have  a  mother,  they  follow  her ;  if 
not,    they    must    attend    some    other    diplomatic 


AMERICAN   MENISTEES.  137 

matron,  of  whose  suite  or  family  they  are  supposed, 
for  the  occasion,  to  form  a  part. 

All  daughters  but  her  own,  indeed,  receive  rigor- 
ous measure  from  the  Queen ;  and  against  diplo- 
matic daughters  she  seems  to  bear  almost  a  special 
grudge,  refusing  them  the  privileges  accorded  to 
daughters  whose  rank  is  derived  from  birth.  Per- 
haps this  springs  from  the  English  sentiment  that 
official  rank  is  insignificant.  Diplomatic  preced- 
ence is,  in  royal  eyes,  the  mere  fringe  of  office ;  not, 
like  inherited  precedence,  a  permanent  superiority 
— the  essential  and  integral  appurtenance  of  rank 
that  is  not  acquired.  English  diplomatists  them- 
selves lose  all  their  official  precedence  the  moment 
they  set  foot  in  England.  Sir  Edward  Tliornton, 
when  he  went  to  court,  after  representing  Her  Maj- 
esty for  years  in  Washington,  was  only  a  knight  of 
recent  creation.  He  did  not  even  belong  to  the 
aristocracy,  and  took  his  place  far  down  the  line — a 
very  worthy  person  who  had  risen  from  the  middle 
class. 

Some  years  ago  an  American  Minister  had  sev- 
eral daughters  living  with  him,  one  of  whom  was  a 
widow.  This  lady  was  invited  to  one  court  ball 
with  her  father  and  his  family,  but  for  the  second 
she  received  no  card.  The  minister,  supposing  the 
omission  accidental,  sent  to  the  Lord  Chamberlain 
to  have  it  rectified.  But  the  court  functionaries 
explained  that  the  exclusion  was   designed.     One 


138  ARISTOCRACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

invitation  had  been  sent  to  the  lady  out  of  compli- 
ment to  her  father,  but  she  must  not  expect  to  be 
admitted  every  time.  Having  married,  she  had  left 
her  flither's  family,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Queen. 
For  all  these  rules  are  the  express  determination  of 
the  sovereign — the  fruit  of  calm,  ripe  judgment 
and  profound  deliberation  on  her  part. 

The  American  envoys  are  usually  very  much  dis- 
gusted because  they  are  not  ambassadors,  for  many 
privileges  are  accorded  to  these  highest  potentates 
of  diplomacy  that  are  not  conceded  to  mere  minis- 
ters. It  is  ambassadors  only  who  can  claim  the 
title  of  Excellency ;  to  others  it  is  given  by  courtesy 
alone.  Ambassadors  only  have  a  right  to  demand 
an  interview  with  the  sovereign ;  and  on  the  few 
occasions  when  the  Queen  still  entertains  in  person 
and  in  state,  at  royal  weddings  or  ceremonial 
funerals,  her  diplomatic  invitations  are  restricted  to 
ambassadors  and  to  the  representatives  of  such  sov- 
ereigns as  are  connections  of  her  family.  This,  of 
course,  always  excludes  the  American  Minister,  who 
sometimes  never  goes  to  Windsor  except  to  present 
his  credentials  and  his  recall.  But,  more  humili- 
ating still,  a  minister  may  wait  an  hour  at  the 
Foreign  Office  for  an  interview  with  the  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  at  the  end  of  the  hour  see 
an  ambassador  amve  and  go  in  before  him.  The 
representatives  of  the  great  republic  feel  that  these 
things  should  not  be ;  that  the  dignity  of  the  United 


AMBRICAN    MINISTERS.  139 

States  requires  that  its  diplomatic  servants  should 
have  equal  standing  with  those  of  any  other  power. 
And  it  is  hard  to  say  that  they  are  wrong.  If  we 
maintain  a  representative  at  a  court  where  these 
rales  prevail,  we  should  for  our  own  sake  insure  him 
proper  consideration.  The  Minister  of  the  United 
States  should  not  be  thrust  back  because  of  lower 
rank  by  the  representative  of  any  petty  State  that 
happens  to  keep  an  ambassador. 

But  the  ministers  sometimes  show  more  feeling 
on  this  subject  than  comports  with  the  station  that 
they  fill.  One  of  them  begged  a  British  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs  to  address  our  Government, 
and  request  the  elevation  of  the  American  legation 
into  an  embassy.  He  was  so  pertinacious  in  his 
applications  that  the  Englishman  complained  of 
them  in  society ;  a  fact  that  did  not  add  to  the  dig- 
nity which  the  envoy  was  so  anxious  to  maintain. 

I  have  said  that  the  ministers  become  punctilious. 
One  of  them  was  dining  at  an  American  house, 
and  as  he  took  his  hostess  down  to  dinner  she  asked 
him  if  he  would  consent  to  sit  on  her  left  at  table, 
so  that  she  might  arrange  her  guests,  only  eight  or 
ten  in  number,  more  agreeably.  But  the  inflexible 
republican  replied  :  "  Do  you  know  that  I  outrank 
a  duke  ?  " —  a  supererogatory  illustration,  for  their 
were  no  dukes  at  dinner.  So  the  poor  little  lady's 
table  was  disarranged,  but  the  American  Minister 
maintained  his  place.     The  worst  of  it  was,  he  was 


140  ARISTOCKACY  IN   ENGLAND. 

wrong  in  his  etiquette.  By  express  determination 
of  Her  Majesty,  foreign  envoys  follow  dukes.  But 
our  countryman  was  new  at  his  post,  and  doubtless 
learned  his  lesson  better  afterward.  If  he  didn't, 
the  dukes  soon  told  him. 

A  minister,  indeed,  must  often  shudder  when  he 
remembers  the  blunders  he  has  made.  One  of  our 
representatives  on  the  Continent  who  later  thought 
himself  an  authority  on  ceremonies,  in  the  early 
days  of  his  exaltation  kindly  left  a  card  on  the 
King,  whereupon  His  Majesty  remarked  that  he 
had  been  told  Americans  were  sometimes  unmind- 
ful of  forms,  but  this  one  had  paid  him  an  honor 
he  had  never  before  received. 

But  not  every  American  representative  is  so  ab- 
sorbed in  the  sense  of  his  own  consequence  as  to 
forget  or  neglect  politeness  for  punctilio.  While 
General  Schenck  was  Minister  to  England,  Mr, 
Reverdy  Johnson,  who  had  held  the  same  position 
not  very  long  before,  was  visiting  London,  and  both 
gentlemen  dined  with  me  on  the  same  evening. 
Before  we  went  in  to  dinner.  General  Schenck  par- 
ticularly requested  that  I  would  give  Mr.  Johnson 
precedence.  His  predecessor  was  old,  and  had,  of 
course,  been  used  to  taking  the  first  place,  and  the 
General  wished  to  show  him  deference.  This  grace- 
ful act  was  prompted  by  sheer  good  breeding,  not 
indifference ;  for  I  had  expected  to  invite  a  Cardi- 
nal for  the  same  evening,  and  inquired  of  General 


AMERICAN   MmiSTEES.  141 

Schenck  about  the  precedence.  He  said  that,  as 
American  Minister,  he  could  not  waive  his  rank 
in  favor  of  a  prelate  who,  though  a  prince  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  had  no  recognized  place  accord- 
ing to  English  rules. 

Mr.  Pierrepont,  also,  always  waived  his  rank  in 
favor  of  General  Grant,  and  this  was  not  entirely 
a  work  of  supererogation.  Many  Englishmen  other- 
wise would  have  placed  the  actual  representative 
of  the  United  States  before  the  ex-President.  At  a 
dinner  at  Kensington  Palace,  where  Lord  Lome 
was  host,  he  inquired  of  Mr.  Pierrepont,  before  the 
guests  were  arranged,  whether  he  waived  his  rank 
in  favor  of  General  Grant. 

For  in  the  country  to  which  he  is  accredited,  a 
diplomatic  representative  takes  precedence  even  of 
a  member  of  the  Government  that  he  serves.  Mr. 
Motley  told  me  that,  when  he  was  minister  at 
Yienna,  before  the  days  of  the  German  empire,  he 
once  had  Bismarck  and  the  Prussian  ambassador 
both  at  dinner.  Bismarck  was  chief  of  the  Foreign 
Office  in  Berlin  at  the  time,  and  the  question  of 
precedence  was  raised,  but  settled  in  favor  of  the 
ambassador,  and  Bismarck  followed  his  own  sub- 
ordinate. 

All  is  not  happiness  at  foreign  courts.  The  min- 
isters' families  have  their  own  difficulties.  They 
always  want  to  snub  the  wives  of  the  Secretaries  of 
legation,  and   the   Secretaries'  wives,  being  good 


142  AEISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAJSTD. 

Americans,  won't  stand  the  snubbing.  I  recollect 
one  who  oifered  to  matronize  the  daughter  of  a 
widowed  minister,  and  the  shock  which  the  pro- 
posal created  was  not  surprising  to  one  familiar 
with  the  workings  of  the  feminine  mind.  I  think 
myself  the  offer  was  mere  bravado.  The  same  lady 
has  since  been  a  minister's  wife  herself,  and  I  doubt 
not  she  made  her  Secretaries'  wives  know  their 
place.  There  are  no  sticklers  for  subordination 
like  servants  who  have  passed  through  the  degrees, 
and  no  such  disciplinarians  in  the  army  as  officers 
who  have  risen  from  the  ranks. 

Secretaries  of  legation,  indeed,  are  a  frequent 
source  of  trouble.  The  ministers  have  not  their 
choice  of  tliem,  as  a  rule.  They  must  take  whom- 
soever the  Washington  officials  send.  One  veteran 
in  etiquette  had  a  Western  editor  inflicted  on  him, 
who  went  to  court  without  a  waistcoat,  and,  of 
course,  was  turned  away.  And  the  minister  was  a 
Bostonian  ! 

There  are  other  trials  still  for  the  luckless  repre- 
sentative. I  have  already  described  the  struggles 
of  Americans  determined  to  go  to  court.  But  some 
of  our  compatriots  are  not  content  with  palatial  hos- 
pitalities ;  they  want  invitations  to  private  houses, 
too,  and  expect  their  minister  to  provide  them. 
One  gentleman,  not  altogether  unknown  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  after  reading  the  list  of  private 
parties  printed  every  Monday  in  the  Morning  Post 


AMEEICAN   MINISTERS.  143 

to  refresh  the  memory  of  tlie  aristocrats,  cut  out 
the  catalogue  and  enclosed  it  to  the  minister,  and 
requested  "tickets"  for  the  entire  schedule. 

But  the  worst  troubles  of  the  ministers  are  about 
their  clothes.  Some  years  ago,  Congress  established 
a  rule  that  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the 
United  States  should  wear  no  uniform  whatever 
not  prescribed  by  law.  Up  to  that  time,  our  min- 
isters abroad  had  worn  a  suitable  enough  sort  of 
dress  which  made  them  look  somewhat  like  other 
people  at  court ;  not  conspicuous  by  plainness,  nor 
ostentatious  from  ornament.  There  was  no  author- 
ity for  the  custom,  but  none  against  it,  until  some 
rampant  republican  declared  it  unworthy  of  a  State 
without  a  King  to  deck  its  ministers  in  foreign  frip- 
pery, and  the  law  prohibiting  diplomatic  uniforms 
was  passed. 

The  envoy  at  the  Court  of  St.  James  was  in- 
formed of  the  rule,  and  he,  in  his  turn,  notified  the 
English  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs.  An  elab- 
orate correspondence  thereupon  ensued,  which  was 
submitted  to  the  Queen  herself,  and  a  compromise 
was  finally  agreed  upon,  to  the  effect  that  at  levees 
the  United  States  Minister  and  the  members  of  his 
legation  would  be  received  in  ordinary  evening 
dress,  but  at  drawing-rooms  and  at  court  balls  and 
concerts  they  were  to  wear  knee-breeches  and 
swords.  This  was  approved  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  time  being,  and  has  since  been  the 


144:  AHISTOCKACY  IN   ENGLAKD. 

rule,  but  it  is  in  positive  violation  of  the  law.  The 
ministers,  however,  dislike  very  much  to  go  without 
a  uniform.  They  are  conspicuous  in  their  plain 
clothes,  and  are,  in  fact,  the  only  people  but  the 
court  newsman  without  a  court  dress,  and  they  con- 
form to  the  violation  unscrupulously.  Some  years 
ago,  one  of  them  had  a  right  to  wear  a  military  uni- 
form, and  he  has  been  the  envy  of  all  his  successors 
since. 

The  Queen,  nevertheless,  was  entirely  in  the 
wrong  in  deciding  upon  the  dress  of  a  foreign  en- 
voy. She  receives  the  Turkish  Ambassador  in  his 
trousers  and  fez,  because  this  is  the  costume  in 
which  he  presents  himself  to  his  own  sovereign, 
and  she  has  no  right  to  make  the  American  Minis- 
ter show  his  legs.  If  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment should  peremptorily  forbid  its  representatives 
to  appear  at  balls  and  concerts  unless  in  the  dress 
they  wear  at  the  levees  of  the  President,  Her  Maj- 
esty would  be  obliged  to  yield.  The  ambassador 
who  carried  his  whole  retinue  to  court,  in  spite  of 
the  rules,  succeeded ;  and  whenever  our  ministers 
show  similar  pluck,  they  will  win  a  similar  victory. 

It  is  true  there  seems  as  much  reason  why  a  uni- 
form should  be  worn  by  officers  in  the  diplomatic 
service  as  by  those  in  the  army  and  navy.  All 
alike  may  be  called  upon  to  represent  their  country 
abroad.  But  having  taken  a  national  stand,  it  is 
not  becoming  to  recede  from  it.     The  simplicity  of 


AMEKICAI^    MmiSTEKS.  145 

the  rule  is  not  onlj  significant  of  rej)ublican  feeling, 
but  in  accordance  with  all  modern  tendencies.  Tor- 
eigners  have  become  familiar  with  the  fashion,  and 
many  approve  it.  While  Mr.  Pierrepont  was  Min- 
ister at  London  he  attended  an  opening  of  Parlia- 
ment in  plain  clothes,  and  the  London  press  declared 
that  the  simple  dignity  of  his  appearance  contrasted 
favorably  with  the  gorgeous  array  of  barbaric 
envoys  and  European  ambassadors.  The  Japanese 
and  some  of  the  South  American  legations  have 
already  adopted  the  simpler  mode,  and  when  Presi- 
dent Grevy,  of  the  French  republic,  first  received 
the  diplomatic  coi*ps  they  presented  themselves  in 
frock  coats  and  trousers,  out  of  deference  to  the 
democratic  idea.  On  the  whole,  it  might  be  well 
for  the  State  Department  to  insist  that  its  subordi- 
nates should  obey  the  law. 
10 


XIV. 

MANNERS. 

The  effect  of  rank  iipon  those  who  possess  it  is 
certainly  vulgarizing.  It  is  common,  I  know,  to 
suppose  and  assert  the  contrary.  The  refining  and 
exalting  results  of  an  aristocracy  are  always  pro- 
claimed by  its  advocates.  We  are  told  that  a  class 
set  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  above  it,  is 
sure  to  be  superior  both  in  refinement  of  breeding 
and  distinction  of  character.  The  great  mass  of 
English  writers  have  constantly  maintained  that  the 
npper  class  of  their  countrymen  set  a  brilliant 
example  to  the  world  at  large,  in  manners,  if  not 
always  in  morals  ;  and  the  nobility  has  been  viewed 
by  most  of  the  English  and  by  all  Americans 
through  the  atmosphere  created  by  these  writers, 
themselves  bred  to  believe  their  aristocracy  excep- 
tionally superior  and  refined. 

But  the  English  men  and  women  of  letters  are 
not  members  of  the  aristocracy.  They  belong  em- 
phatically to  the  middle  class  ;  and  if  some  of  them 
are  now  and  then  admitted  to  the  houses  of  the 
great  it  is  not  as  equals,  but  to  amuse  and  interest 


MANNERS.  147 

the  nobility.  They  are  always  at  the  tail  of  the 
procession  to  dinner,  where  the  most  liberal  peer 
will  think  them  in  their  place,  an  opinion  in  which 
they  themselves  are  certain  to  agree.  It  is  rarely, 
indeed,  that  they  get  so  far  as  this,  and  only  a  very 
few  of  them  ever  see  the  intimate  life  of  the  aristoc- 
racy. But,  being  people  of  sentiment  and  imag- 
ination, and,  in  intellectual  qualities,  often  far 
superior  to  the  upper  class,  they  make  up  their 
minds  what  the  manners  of  a  great  aristocracy 
should  be,  and  describe  them  accordingly.  Even 
when  in  their  own  persons  they  have  penetrated 
behind  the  veil,  they  are  either  so  awe-struck  at  the 
privilege,  or  so  prepossessed  by  their  partialities, 
that  their  vision  is  blurred,  and  they  see  and  tell 
what  they  think  exists,  not  what  is  actually  before 
their  eyes.  It  is  the  glamour  that  genius  has 
thrown  around  the  aristocracy  that  gives  it  the  brill- 
iancy and  fascination  that  have  dazzled  the  world. 
The  pictures  of  De  Gramont,  Horace  Walpole,  and 
Lord  ITervey,  aristocrats  themselves,  are  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  flattered  portraits  by  most  of  the 
writers  of  other  days  ;  and  Charles  Greville's  earlier 
volumes  are  proof  that  the  most  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  recent  times  are  conceived  in  as  absolute 
ignorance  of  the  reality. 

The  high  English  almost  always  possess  com- 
plete ease  of  manner,  but  almost  never  complete 
elegance,  and  both  peculiarities  are  attributable  to 


148  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

their  rank.  As  a  rule,  they  are  remarkable  for 
repose  of  bearing.  There  is  little  pushing  when  the 
aristocrats  are  by  themselves,  though  plenty  of  it 
among  those  who  wish  to  associate  with  them.  The 
position  of  the  nobility  and  their  connections  is  so 
established  that  nobody  is  offended  because  some 
one  of  higher  rank  goes  before  him,  nor  elated  when 
he  himself  precedes  an  acknowledged  inferior.  It 
is  the  new  and  uncertain  people  who  struggle.  To 
the  aristocrats  their  rights  are  usually  conceded 
without  a  contest.  This  natm'ally  makes  them 
calm,  assured,  serene. 

But  it  also  makes  them  indifferent,  and  sometimes 
insolent,  toward  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  fact 
that  they  are  placed  so  high,  so  much  above  other 
people  with  education  and  taste  and  refinement 
equal  and  often  superior  to  their  own,  creates  a 
carelessness  and  superciliousness  of  behavior  and 
feeling  not  only  offensive,  but  almost  coarse.  If 
they  are  well  bred,  so  much  the  better ;  but  if  not, 
they  stand  quite  as  secure.  The  pedestal  is  just  as 
high,  no  matter  what  figure  is  placed  on  it.  A 
duke  may  be  a  boor  or  a  clown,  a  duchess  may  be 
illiterate  or  drunken  or  immoral — and  there  have 
been  instances  of  all  this  within  the  last  twenty  years 
— but  they  are  dukes  and  duchesses  all  the  same. 
Their  precedence  is  not  disturbed,  their  notice  is 
still  an  honor,  their  society  is  courted,  their  alliance 
is  sought,  if  not  by  all,  yet  by  so  many  that  they 


MANNERS.  149 

never  discover  tlic  deficiency.  There  are  men  of 
the  highest  rank  who  turn  palaces  into  dog-kennels 
and  consort  with  pugilists  and  yet  marry  into  ducal 
families ;  and  I  have  seen  tipsy  duchesses  dance 
after  dinner  with  shawls  and  castanets  before  am- 
bassadors and  Prime  Ministers,  when  but  for  their 
rank  they  would  not  have  been  tolerated. 

It  is  the  consciousness  of  their  superiority  that 
makes  them  think  it  unnecessaiy  to  cultivate  their 
manners  or  reform  their  morals.  I  once  heard  a 
countess  account  for  the  manner  of  one  of  the  court 
ladies,  which  was  indeed  exceptionally  soft  and 
charming :  "  I  suppose,"  she  said,  "  it  proceeds  from 
her  being  always  with  a  superior,  always  obliged  to 
defer  to  another."  This  is  the  key  to  the  feeling 
of  the  aristocracy.  They  have  no  need,  they  think, 
to  defer,  with  equals  or  inferiors.  They  can  gratify 
their  moods  or  their  whims,  be  amiable,  or  disa- 
greeable, or  indifferent,  as  they  please.  Toward 
those  above  them  they  are  deferential  in  the  ex- 
treme ;  servile  it  seems  to  an  American,  and  cer- 
tainly obsequious.  With  those  whom  they  like  they 
can  be  as  affable  as  any  peoj)le  in  the  world,  and 
their  affability  is  the  more  agreeable  because  what 
is  not  common  is  always  more  highly  prized.  Like 
everybody  else  they  can  be  civil  enough  when  it  is 
their  interest  to  be  so.  But  when  none  of  these 
reasons  exists — interest,  or  preference,  or  necessity — 
they  are  often  cold,  supercilious,  and  arrogant  to  a 


150  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

degree  unknown  in  what  is  called  good  company 
elsewhere. 

The  brother  of  a  duke  not  long  ago  paid  his  ad- 
dresses to  an  American  woman  of  fortune  who  was 
disinclined  to  listen  to  him.  He  persisted,  however, 
till  at  a  final  refusal  he  got  up  from  his  knees  and 
exclaimed :  "  Oh !  you  cannot  understand  us.  You 
are  not  made  of  the  same  clay."  Our  country- 
woman remembered  his  lordship's  family  history, 
and  replied :  "  No,  indeed.  I  am  not  descended 
from  a  king,  nor  his  mistress." 

Thackeray  was  once  staying  at  a  country-house 
where  one  of  the  high-born  guests  inquired  after 
dinner :  "  Who  is  that  agreeable  man  ? "  When  he 
was  told  it  was  the  famous  novelist,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  peerage  remarked :  "  You  surprise  me. 
I  thought  he  was  a  gentleman." 

It  is  often  not  noblesse  oblige^  but  noblesse  excuse. 
A  duchess  will  not  return  visits  unless  it  suits  her  ; 
but  if  she  opens  her  house  for  a  ball,  all  the  world 
goes,  and  is  careful  to  leave  cards  immediately  after- 
ward, so  as  to  be  invited  next  time. 

An  old  peeress  not  now  living,  who  had  seen 
much  of  the  world,  said  to  me  the  night  I  made 
her  acquaintance  :  "  What  do  you  think  of  us  Eng- 
lish ?  Are  we  not  all  very  rude  ?  "  I  replied  that 
I  had  received  too  many  courtesies  in  England  to 
make  this  admission  ;  but  she  went  on :  "  Oh,  I 
know  we  are  ill  bred.     I  never  see  a  stranger  but 


MANNERS.  151 

my  first  impulse  is  to  be  rude  to  him."  The  next 
day  she  asked  me  to  stay  a  week  at  her  country- 
house,  and  became  one  of  my  intimate  friends. 

I  once  saw  a  duchess  drive  off  from  a  country- 
house  where  she  had  been  visiting.  Her  bonnet  was 
exceedingly  shabby,  and  her  sister,  a  countess,  was 
teasing  her  to  change  it  for  a  smarter  one.  "  A 
duchess,"  she  said,  "  and  drive  in  such  a  bonnet ! " 
But  the  duchess  laughed,  and  replied :  "  Where  is 
the  use  of  being  a  duchess  if  I  can't  wear  what 
bonnet  I  please  ? "  It  was  all  in  raillery,  of  course, 
but  there  was  a  genuine  feeling  under  the  raillery. 

Not  long  ago  some  one  said  in  my  hearing  of  the 
wife  of  an  American  President :  "  Her  manners  are 
as  good  as  those  of  a  duchess."  "  But  why,"  it  was 
asked,  "  should  a  duchess  have  better  manners 
than  any  one  else  ?  "  Thereupon  an  American  ex- 
claimed :  "  If  they  don't  have  good  manners,  what 
are  they  for  ? "  Now,  as  a  rule,  the  duchesses  have 
the  worst  manners  of  any  women  in  the  peerage. 
Nobody  is  born  a  duchess,  so  they  all  must  acquire 
their  rank  by  marriage ;  and  their  heads  are  often 
completely  turned  by  the  elevation.  Many  of  them 
have  been  of  families  quite  without  the  pale  of  the 
peerage;  they  are  thus  absolute  parvenus,  and  a 
parvenu  peeress  is  usually  downright  vulgar,  in  her 
consciousness  of  grandeur.  The  daughters  of  dukes, 
who  often  descend  in  life  as  they  go  along,  for  the 
most  part  are  better  bred  than  their  mothers. 


152  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

The  men,  as  a  rule,  are  less  insolent  in  bearing, 
if  not  in  behavior,  but  just  as  selfish,  just  as  de- 
termined to  do  as  thej  choose,  Avithout  regard  to 
the  feelings  of  their  inferiors ;  and  in  their  eyes 
nearly  all  the  world  are  their  inferiors.  Their  rank 
not  only  gives  them  this  indifference;  it  makes 
them  narrow,  prejudiced,  provincial,  satisfied  with 
themselves.  With  every  good  thing  in  life  at  their 
command,  with  everybody  in  England  at  their  feet, 
they  are  naturally  disinclined  to  effort  of  any  sort. 
A  duke  once  said  to  me :  "I  suppose  I  ought  to  go 
to  America  to  improve  my  mind."  He  knew  very 
well  that  his  mind  needed  improvement,  but  he  was 
a  duke  all  the  same. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  members  of  the  aris- 
tocracy of  admirable  character  and  attractive  quali- 
ties ;  some  who  feel  the  requirements  and  responsi- 
bilities of  their  position,  and  are  worthy  of  their 
nobility.  I  certainly  had  reason  to  appreciate  the 
worth  and  admire  the  charm  of  many  individuals, 
but  those  who  were  charming  and  worthy  were  so, 
not  because  of  their  rank,  but  because  of  their  per- 
sonal quality.  They  would  have  been  equally  ad- 
mirable and  attractive  in  another  rank  and  another 
sphere.  Barring  a  certain  brusqueness  which  almost 
never  wears  off,  and  the  lack  of  that  elegance  which 
they  almost  never  acquire,  the  most  rounded  men 
of  the  world  I  have  ever  known,  not  perhaps  the 
most  highly  accomplished,  but   the  healthiest   in 


MANNERS.  153 

tone,  the  most  general  in  information,  and,  wlien 
you  know  them  well,  the  most  genial  in  sentiment 
— those  who  best  combine  the  results  of  life  and 
cultui-e — have  been  the  very  best  of  the  English 
aristocracy.  0  !  si  sio  omnes  I  I  must  say,  how- 
ever, that  these  were  oftener  connected  with  noble 
families  than  the  heads  of  those  families  themselves. 

But  I  saw  also  something  of  what  is  called  the 
upper  middle  class — the  literary  and  professional 
people.  I  got  glimpses  at  the  life  of  the  great  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers,  and  I  found  among  them 
quite  as  admirable  specimens  of  English  ladies  and 
gentlemen  as  in  the  aristocracy ;  quite  as  genuine 
refinement,  more  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others, 
and,  unless  a  lord  or  a  lady  came  along,  quite  as 
much  innate  dignity.  In  the  presence  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, however,  they  all  mentally  get  down  on 
their  hands  and  knees. 

The  influence  of  rank,  I  repeat,  is  not  refining. 
It  not  only  magnifies  the  importance  of  externals 
and  depreciates  that  of  essential  qualities,  but  it 
has  not  the  effect  claimed  for  it,  of  inspiring  its 
possessors  to  keep  themselves  up  to  a  high  stand 
ard.  It  may  do  this  in  some  rare  instances,  with 
superior  natures,  which  would  be  lofty  without  the 
stimulus  of  rank ;  but  with  the  mass  of  those  who 
enjoy  it,  who  are  commonplace  enough,  it  has  the 
contrary  effect.  It  encourages  them  to  dispense 
with  effort,  it  inspires  an  oflfensive  pride,  it  relieves 


154  AEISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

from  the  obligation  of  courtesy,  it  destroys  outright 
that  delicate  consideration  for  the  rights  and  espe- 
cially the  feelings  of  others,  which  is  at  the  basis  of 
every  grace  that  makes  life  or  character  beautiful. 

Talent  and  energy  and  natural  moral  excellence 
are  distributed  pretty  equally,  according  to  my  ob- 
servation, among  men  of  every  country  and  every 
grade.  There  are  as  many  fools,  and  rakes,  and 
knaves  among  the  aristocracy  as  among  the  same 
number  of  men  and  women  in  any  other  class  in 
England  or  elsewhere.  There  are  also  many  vulgar 
people  of  the  highest  birth.  There  is  dishonorable 
conduct  in  men  of  greatest  rank  and  oldest  names. 
The  institution  does  not  prevent  these  things. 
Blood  does  not  tell ;  or  if  it  tells,  it  tells  the  wrong 
way.  Taking  the  aristocracy  as  a  whole,  judging 
it  neither  by  the  exceptionally  excellent  nor  by  the 
exceptionally  vulgar  or  depraved,  but  as  a  class,  it 
did  not  strike  me  as  superior  in  ability,  character, 
culture,  or  breeding  to  the  same  number  of  people 
who  could  be  culled  from  the  choicest  circles  of 
half  a  dozen  different  quarters  of  democratic  Amer- 
ica. I  am  sure  there  are  583  gentlemen  in 
America  the  equals  of  the  peers,  and  five  or  even 
ten  thousand  men  and  women  who  would  not 
suffer  by  comparison  with  their  families. 


XV. 
CASTE. 

If  the  influence  of  the  aristocracy  is  vulgarizing 
upon  the  aristocrats  themselves,  rendering  them 
often  arrogant,  supercilious  and  rude,  it  is  still 
more  so  with  their  inferiors,  debasing  the  spirit  and 
degrading  the  behavior  to  an  extent  incomprehen- 
sible to  an  American,  in  persons  who  in  other  re- 
spects are  neither  abject  nor  servile.  When  one 
considers  the  character  and  history  of  the  race,  the 
grovelling  of  an  Englishman  before  a  lord  is  one  of 
the  marvels  of  modern  times.  There  is  nothing 
like  it  in  any  civilized  nation  on  the  globe. 
Neither  the  peasant  of  France  or  Spain,  nor  the 
private  soldier  of  Geraiany,  nor  the  lazzarone  of 
Naples,  nor  even  the  emancipated  Russian  serf 
manifests  in  the  preeence  of  a  superior  that  convic- 
tion of  the  existence  of  a  caste  composed  of  his 
"betters,"  which  marks  the  educated  Briton  of  the 
middle  class.  The  sentiment  is  really  more  re- 
markable in  the  educated  than  in  the  ignorant,  for 
in  the  latter  it  can  be  excused  or  comprehended  ; 
but  the  prostration  of  spirit  and  manner,  the  un- 


156  AKISTOCEACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

covering  of  tlie  whole  being,  without  any  purpose 
or  aim  of  sycophancy  or  intei-est,  in  a  man  or 
woman  of  culture  and  refinement  and  character, 
because  of  the  presence  of  a  person  of  rank  trans- 
cends explanation.  The  very  word  "  betters  "  has 
a  meaning  that  is  shocking  to  think  of. 

A  woman  of  rank  once  asked  me  what,  of  all  I 
had  seen  in  England,  struck  me  most  forcibly.  I 
had  no  doubt  whatever,  and  answered:  "The  dis- 
tinction of  classes,  the  existence  of  caste."  "  But," 
she  inquired,  "  do  you  really  mean  to  say  that  in 
America  the  great  merchant's  daughter  does  not 
look  down  on  the  little  grocer's  daughter  ? "  "  Per- 
haps," said  I,  "  the  great  merchant's  daughter  does 
look  down,  but  very  certainly  the  little  grocer's 
daughter  does  not  look  up ; "  and  the  whole  com- 
pany was  horrified  at  the  idea  of  a  country  where 
the  little  grocers'  daughters  "  don't  look  up." 

This,  indeed,  is  the  difference  between  English 
and  American  life.  In  England  everybody  looks 
up.  The  most  accomplished  scholars,  the  men  of 
science  and  letters,  the  artists,  the  great  lawyers 
and  physicians,  even  the  politicians  born  without 
the  pale,  all  look  up  to  the  aristocracy. 

Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Disraeli,  undoubtedly  the 
two  greatest  statesmen  England  has  produced  since 
the  days  of  Fox  and  Pitt,  who  have  swayed  the 
destinies  and  moulded  the  political  character  of  the 
country  for   nearly  a   quarter   of  a  century,  each 


CASTE.  157 

sprang  from  the  middle  class,  and  neither  ever 
freed  himself  altogether  from  his  awe  of  the  aristoc- 
racy. Gladstone  has  done  more  to  transmute  hb- 
eral  ideas  into  realities  than  any  other  Englishman 
that  ever  lived ;  yet  not  long  ago  he  used  these 
words :  "  So  far  as  a  man  in  my  station  can  be  sup- 
posed to  understand  or  enter  into  the  feelings  of 
one  of  the  rank  of  a  duke ;  "  and  Disraeli,  although 
he  made  himself  a  peer,  could  not  get  over  his  ad- 
miration and  reverence  for  a  born  nobleman.  His 
own  adherents  made  this  weakness  their  butt. 
Even  after  he  had  negotiated  the  treaty  of  Berlin, 
had  snatched  Constantinople  from  the  grasp  of 
Russia,  and  received  the  Order  of  the  Garter  from 
the  Queen,  I  heard  Tory  wits,  both  men  and 
women,  laugh  at  his  fondness  for  dukes,  and  de- 
clare that  he  was  never  so  happy  as  when  seated 
between  duchesses,  no  matter  how  ugly  or  old. 

For  it  is  not  enough  to  belong  to  the  nobility ; 
you  must  inherit  the  title  to  feel  like  an  aristocrat. 
The  law  lords  are  always  slightingly  spoken  of  as 
new  creations ;  people  tell  you  how  they  are  de- 
scended from  barbers  and  tailors;  and  any  duke  with 
proper  sentiment  would  rather  his  daughter  were 
married  to  a  stupid  country  squire  of  ancient  family 
than  to  one  of  your  modern  Lord  Chancellors.  It 
is  not  till  the  blood  of  two  or  three  generations  has 
washed  away  the  stain  of  plebeian  origin  that  they 
take  their  place  without  uneasiness  among  the  peers. 


158  AKISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

It  is  not  only  the  chiefs  in  politics  who  are 
affected  by  the  feeling  of  caste.  In  1874,  when 
Mr.  Gladstone  withdrew  for  a  while  from  public 
affairs,  the  Liberals  were  obliged  to  select  another 
leader.  Mr.  Forster  was  then  by  all  odds  their 
strongest  and  ablest  man,  but  they  had  also  Sir 
William  Ilarcourt,  Mr.  Bright,  Mr.  Childers,  Mr. 
Goschen,  and  others  distinguished  for  intelligence 
and  accomplishment.  Yet  the  Marquis  of  Harting- 
ton,  possessed  of  no  striking  qualifications  of  char- 
acter or  capacity,  only  the  heir  to  a  dukedom,  was 
preferred.  Had  it  not  been  for  his  rank  he  would 
never  have  been  thought  of;  but  all,  it  was  said, 
could  submit  to  his  pre-eminence  without  humilia- 
tion. No  one  could  object  to  a  leader  of  so  exalted 
rank  and  inconspicuous  intellect ;  while  if  Forster 
or  one  of  the  others  became  chief,  it  would  be  a 
reflection  on  the  abilities  of  those  who  were  not 
preferred.  And  this  was  in  the  Liberal  party  of 
England ! 

Literature  hurries  after  politics  to  bend  before  the 
lords.  Fronde  and  Lecky  have  written  with  all 
their  force  and  eloquence  on  the  "Uses  of  the 
Aristocracy "  and  tlie  "  Landed  Gentry,"  to  which 
they  do  not  belong.  They  are  as  able  and  accom- 
plished as  any  men  in  England  to-day,  and  at  least 
the  intellectual  equals  of  any  living  peer ;  but  they 
want  some  one  above  them— some  one  "to  kotow 

lO. 


CASTE.  159 

A  literary  woman,  whose  name  and  works  are 
deservedly  popular  both  in  England  and  America, 
and  who  had  seen  enough  of  London  society,  one 
would  suppose,  to  accustom  her  to  the  presence  of 
persons  of  rank,  could  never  overcome  her  awe  for 
the  upper  classes.  I  went  one  day  to  call  upon  a 
friend,  who  told  me  that  the  novelist  had  just  left 
the  room,  and  that  upon  entering  she  had  exclaimed : 
"  Oh  !  I  am  such  a  snob  that  I  am  ashamed.  I  have 
been  taking  tea  at  a  house  where  a  countess  came 
in,  and  it  fluttered  me  so  that  I  couldn't  take  oft'  my 
gloves,  and  spilt  all  my  tea." 

And  so,  all  up  and  down  the  scale.  I  once  heard 
a  woman  of  fashion  say  of  some  young  girl  just 
entering  the  world,  who  was  remarkable  for  her  self- 
possession  :  "  She  could  go  into  a  room  full  of  duch- 
esses and  not  be  afraid." 

A  great  merchant  said  to  me  when  we  were  talk- 
ing of  the  English  love  for  sport,  which  in  its  excess 
I  did  not  commend  :  "  But  how  shall  our  aristocracy 
be  amused  ?  We  must  amuse  our  aristocracy."  He 
evidently  thought  it  one  of  the  duties  of  the  English 
nation  to  amuse  its  aristocracy. 

When  General  Grant  was  in  England  he  did  not 
confine  his  visits  to  the  nobility.  He  was  the  guest 
of  the  Mayors  of  all  the  prominent  towns,  and  of 
manufacturers  and  merchants  and  other  middle-class 
people,  many  of  them  as  charming  and  cultivated 
in  their  way  as  any  of  the  aristocracy.     But  they 


160  AEISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

could  not  conceive  that  a  mere  ex-President  was 
the  equal  of  an  earl.  At  one  manufacturing  town 
he  stayed  at  a  house  where  every  honor  was  paid 
him  and  every  courtesy  extended.  But  his  hosts 
took  him  to  visit  the  steward  of  a  lord  who  lived 
near  by ;  he  was  permitted  to  see  the  state  apart- 
ments in  the  absence  of  "his  lordship,"  and  he 
lunched  in  the  land  steward's  room,  and  not  in  the 
earl's.  The  steward  was  probably  an  abler  and 
better  educated  man  than  his  master,  and  General 
Grant  was  too  good  a  democrat  not  to  appreciate 
this  fact  and  to  respect  his  host;  but  if  he  had 
been  an  English  nobleman,  neither  steward  nor 
manufacturer  would  have  dreamed  of  entertaining 
him. 

ISTot  many  years  ago  a  statue  of  Mr.  Peabody  was 
erected  in  London,  the  work  of  our  gifted  country- 
man, Story.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  present  at 
the  unveiling,  and  Mr.  Motley,  then  Minister  to 
England,  delivered  the  address.  It  was  an  impres- 
sive circumstance — the  commemoration  by  English- 
men of  the  munificence  and  charity  of  an  American, 
who  had  bestowed  his  munificence  on  Englishmen. 
The  presence  of  the  heir  to  the  throne  and  of  the 
American  Minister  made  the  incident  international ; 
but  the  American  artist  was  not  invited.  The  city 
authorities  of  London  looked  upon  him  as  a  stone- 
cutter, or  at  best  as  a  tradesman  who  had  sold  them 
the  result  of  his  labor.     Mr.  Motley  had  to  make  a 


CASTE.  161 

persistent  application  before  they  consented  to  in- 
clude the  sculptor  in  the  ceremonies  of  which  his 
own  work  was  not  only  the  principal  ornament,  but 
the  occasion.  In  the  eyes  of  the  London  citizen  an 
artist  is  not  an  aristocrat ;  he  is  no  better  than  one 
of  themselves. 

Adelaide  Kemble  Sartoris  once  told  me  a  story 
about  herself  that  illustrates  the  social  situation  in 
England.  A  great  lady — which  Mrs.  Sartoris  said 
she  was  not — had  sent  out  cards  for  a  ball,  of  course 
to  the  aristocracy.  The  woman  of  genius  was 
about  to  give  a  dinner :  her  dinners  were  famous, 
for  the  company  was  of  the  rarest  and  choicest 
kind ;  poetry  and  wit  and  science  and  art  came  to 
her  table  often  rather  than  to  a  lord's.  The  great 
lady  wanted  to  go  to  one  of  these  dinners,  and  sent 
word  to  Mrs.  Sartoris  that  if  she  would  ask  her  to 
the  dinner,  Mrs.  Sartoris  and  her  daughter  might 
come  to  the  ball.  Mrs.  Sartoris  said  she  wanted  her 
daughter  to  be  seen  at  so  grand  a  house,  so  she  ate 
her  portion  of  dirt  and  exchanged  invitations  with 
the  peeress.  The  great  lady  went  to  the  dinner, 
and  the  great  genius  and  her  daughter  went  to  the 
ball. 

I  knew  a  clever  American  who  had  been  strug- 
gling for  a  long  while  to  get  into  English  society, 
and  had  not  succeeded.  He  was  in  every  way 
fitted,  but  he  had  not  the  entree  or  the  introduc- 
tions. At  last  he  got  afloat  a  little  and  asked  me  to 
11 


162  AKISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

dinner  to  meet  some  lords.  The  dinner  was  given 
to  show  his  success ;  but  the  lords  were  all  clever, 
and  they  went  to  his  table  because  their  host  was 
also  clever,  and  they  knew  they  would  enjoy  them- 
selves, not  because  they  thought  he  was  of  their 
world.  One  of  the  company  said  to  me  that  my 
countryman  was  getting  along,  but  he  couldn't  be 
considered  to  have  succeeded  till  he  could  get  stupid 
lords. 

Tbe  feeling  of  which  I  write  extends  to  every 
sphere ;  it  permeates  England.  The  reverence  that 
Gladstone  and  Disraeli  showed  is  parodied  in 
the  sentiment  of  the  servants,  who  regard  the 
lords  as  beings  of  a  different  race  from  themselves. 
Even  when  the  great  people  condescend,  the  ser- 
vants never  allow  their  own  heads  to  be  turned. 
When  the  master  dances  with  the  housemaid  or  the 
mistress  with  the  butler,  no  liberties  are  taken  in 
return.  The  great  gulf  is  still  impassable.  Mr. 
Auberon  Herbert  is  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Car- 
narvon, but  a  radical.  He  prides  himself  on  ignor- 
ing; the  distinctions  of  rank.  "When  he  hires  a  new 
servant  he  is  said  to  ask  him  to  tea,  and  he  offers 
his  hand  to  the  menials  of  the  noblemen  whom  he 
visits.  A  butler,  who  did  not  refuse  this  honor, 
afterward  spoke  of  it  with  sorrow  and  deprecation 
to  his  own  master.  "  I  know  my  place,  my  lord, 
and  that  is  more  than  Mr.  Auberon  Herbert  knows 
his." 


CASTE.  163 

This  persistent  humility  is  common  with  the 
class,  and  is  manifested  even  toward  republicans. 
I  once  found  it  convenient  to  assign  to  my  valet  a 
room  in  a  part  of  the  house  near  my  own,  and 
thought  he  would  be  pleased  with  the  situation ; 
but  he  told  me  respectfully  he  didn't  like  it  at  all. 
He  was  a  servant,  not  a  gentleman ;  he  didn't  want 
to  be  treated  like  a  gentleman,  nor  to  live  in  a  gen- 
tleman's apartments.     It  was  not  proper. 

They  sometimes  show  this  same  appreciation  of 
propriety  in  a  different  way.  A  cook,  some  time 
ago,  took  service  with  a  physician  who  was  a  baronet. 
She  knew  her  master's  title,  and  did  not  suspect 
his  occupation,  but  as  soon  as  she  discovered  the 
reality  she  gave  warning.  She  had  only  been  used, 
she  said,  to  living  with  the  gentry. 

I  recollect  visiting  the  ruins  of  Raglan  Castle, 
where  the  porter,  in  showing  the  great  hall,  is  sure 
to  announce  that  here  once  feasted  a  hundred  and 
forty  lords  and  gentlemen,  every  one  of  whom  was 
proud  and  honored  to  serve  his  Grace  the  Duke  of 
Beaufort.  Soon  afterward  I  was  staying  at  the 
country  seat  of  the  present  Earl  Fortescue.  Mr. 
Motley  was  also  a  guest,  and,  reviving  his  historical 
lore,  he  reminded  his  host  that  in  other  days  an  earl 
would  have  been  served  by  attendants  kneeling. 
The  actual  service  offered  to  dukes  by  lords  and 
gentlemen  is  nearly  past,  but  the  parasites  of  the 
modern  peers  are  as  obsequious  at  heart  as  their 


164:  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

predecessors,  and  if  the  lackeys  are  not  still  on  their 
knees  at  table,  they  are  prostrate  all  their  lives  in 
sentiment. 

I  could  fill  pages  with  proof  of  the  reverence  for 
rank  which  many  of  the  English  besides  Lecky  and 
Fronde  defend,  declaring  that  it  exalts  and  refines 
the  people  who  pay  it :  we  all  need  something  to 
venerate,  they  say.  But  the  question  is  whether 
rank  is  the  thing.  In  England,  however,  there  is  no 
question.  The  greatest  nobles  feel  themselves  hon- 
ored by  attendance  on  royalty,  and  their  servants 
are  conscious  of  no  degradation  in  the  duties  they 
perform  lower  down,  while  the  culture  and  genius 
of  England  are  proud  to  pay  both  homage  to  the 
Queen  and  obeisance  to  the  lords.  To  Americans 
this  feature  of  caste  is  the  most  curious  in  the  entire 
national  character.  That  in  the  country  of  Carlyle 
and  Bright,  of  Huxley  and  Mill,  where  the  last 
results  of  modern  thought  and  material  civilization 
are  soonest  reached  and  often  widest  spread,  where 
law  and  freedom  are  at  least  as  universal  in  their 
prevalence  as  in  America — this  relic  of  barbarism 
should  still  survive,  wrought  into  the  very  nature  of 
the  people — is  as  wonderful  as  if  amid  the  congre- 
gations of  Westminster  Abbey  or  St.  Paul's  one 
should  suddenly  stumble  on  the  worship  of  Isis  or 
of  Jove. 


XVI. 
ILLEGITIMACY. 

One  of  his  subjects  said  that  Charles  II.  was  the 
father  of  many  of  his  people  in  a  literal  sense.  He 
recruited  the  ranks  of  the  nobility  largely  with  his 
children  and  their  mothers,  and  at  least  five  Eng- 
lish dukes  to-day  can  trace  their  lineage  to  the  mon- 
arch who  left  no  legitimate  descendant.  One  of 
these  had  a  father-in-law  who  boasted  a  similar  con- 
nection with  a  later  sovereign,  and  of  course  was 
titled.  The  two  noblemen  were  at  a  levee  together, 
some  years  ago,  and  as  the  carriage  of  each  stood  at 
the  door  the  duke  said  to  his  father-in-law:  "  How 
do  you  use  the  royal  liveries  ? "  Whereupon  the 
other  descendant  of  kings  replied  :  "  How  do  you  ? " 
One  had  the  same  right  as  the  other. 

These  offshoots  of  royalty  claim  all  the  distinction 
that  their  birth  confers.  The  daughter  of  a  ducal 
house  prides  herself  on  her  likeness  to  her  great 
ancestor,  Nell  Gwynne,  whose  portrait  hangs  in  her 
drawing-room,  so  that  all  who  come  can  compare. 
You  can  pay  her  no  higher  compliment  than  to  no- 
tice the  resemblance  which  proves  her  royal  origin. 


166  AEISTOCKACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

The  royal  favors  have  been  extended  even  in 
recent  times.  Charles  Greville  sets  forth  with 
great  minuteness  the  relations  between  George  TV. 
and  the  Marchioness  of  Conyngham.  One  should 
be  well  up  in  genealogy  to  go  about  in  London  so- 
ciety ;  and,  though  I  had  lived  in  England  many 
years,  I  once  came  near  tripping  on  this  subject. 
Greville's  revelations  and  recollections  were  the  talk 
of  the  town,  and  when  I  went  of  a  Sunday  to  call 
on  a  countess  (now  dead),  who  was  fond  of  gossip,  I 
asked  if  she  had  read  the  volumes.  "  Yes,"  she 
said,  "  but  I  must  tell  you  at  once.  Lady  Conyng- 
ham  was  my  grandmother." 

The  book  was  very  generally  disapproved  by  the 
relations  of  those  whose  imperfections  it  exposed, 
the  Queen  among  the  number;  for  Her  Majesty's 
uncles  were  the  principal  offenders  against  morality, 
of  their  time.  The  editor  defended  his  disclosures 
by  referring  to  the  "  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort," 
which  revealed  the  secret  and  domestic  history  of 
the  Queen.  But  the  stories  there  told  were  all 
favorable  to  the  royal  family ;  Her  Majesty,  like  the 
rest  of  the  world,  prefers  to  select  for  herself  the 
point  where  she  draws  the  line.  It  is  true,  she  had 
no  scandals  to  conceal  in  her  own  career;  but 
I  knew  at  least  half  a  dozen  grandchildren  of 
William  IV.,  none  of  whom  were  descended  from 
Queen  Adelaide.  Yet  they  all  had  titles,  or,  as  one 
of  them  said,  "  handles  to  their  names."     They  also 


ILLEGITIMACY.  16T 

inherited  the  peculiarity  to  which  they  owed  their 
connection  witli  the  Crown.  Divorces  were  com- 
mon in  the  family. 

Illegitimacy,  however,  in  England  is  not  confined 
to  the  descendants  of  royalty.  The  nobility  emu- 
lates the  example  set  by  a  long  line  of  sovereigns. 
In  the  exalted  circles  of  the  aristocracy  the  bastards 
of  peers  go  about  bearing  the  family  names,  and 
daughters  whose  mothers  are  unrecognized  marry 
into  femilies  as  "  good "  as  those  on  the  paternal 
side.  There  are  even  instances  of  sons  born  before 
the  marriage  of  their  parents,  whose  younger  broth- 
ers inherit  titles  to  which  the  elders  would  have 
succeeded,  but  for  the  neglect  of  their  mothers  to 
go  to  church  in  time;  the  legitimate  and  illegit- 
imate children  can  claim  precisely  the  same  progen- 
itors. Some  of  these  premature  sons  are  to-day 
ministers  at  foreign  courts,  others  have  been  masters 
of  ceremonies  in  royal  houses,  while  dukes  and 
earls  have  been  able  to  find  places  for  the  spawn  of 
shame  in  the  army,  the  Foreign  Ofiice,  and  even  in 
that  Church  whose  rites  they  had  themselves  neg- 
lected to  observe. 

God  knows  the  unfortunates  are  not  to  blame ; 
but  to  make  their  birth  a  distinction  and  an  advan- 
tage is  a  greater  enonuity  than  the  ofifence  to  which 
they  owe  their  origin.  A  Countess  of  Cardigan 
had  once  been  the  wife  of  Lord  Cardigan's  stafif 
officer ;  but  she  deserted  her  first  husband  for  his 


168  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

chief.  A  divorce  ensued  and  a  second  marriage. 
A  peeress  not  now  living  told  me  this  story  at  her 
own  table,  and  not  having  studied  the  family  tree 
of  my  hostess,  I  innocently  inquired  if  Lady  Cardi- 
gan had  been  received  in  society.  Here  one  of  my 
neighbors  pui*posely  interrupted  the  conversation,' 
and  I  perceived  there  was  reason  not  to  push  my 
inquiries.  After  dinner  I  was  told  that  the  mother 
of  my  hostess  had  committed  the  fault  of  Lady  Car- 
digan. The  lady  herself  had  spoken  of  her  father, 
who  was  an  earl,  without  a  shade  of  reticence  or 
embarrassment,  and  only  some  ignorant  republican 
like  me  ever  reminded  her  of  the  mother  to  whom 
that  father  was  never  married. 

The  famous  Lady  "Waldegrave  was  married  to 
two  brothers  in  turn  :  first,  to  Mr.  Waldegrave,  the 
natural  son  of  the  Earl  of  the  same  name,  and  after- 
ward to  his  brother,  the  legitimate  heir,  so  that  she 
was  Mrs.  Waldegrave  and  Countess  Waldegrave 
successively.  In  this  instance  the  father  had  pre- 
ferred the  child  of  shame,  and  left  the  bastard  the 
bulk  of  his  property,  which  was  unentailed;  but 
the  fortunate  lady  who  married  first  the  wealthy 
brother  and  then  the  titled  one,  secured  both  for- 
tune and  rank  without  going  out  of  the  family. 
Her  marriage  with  Lord  Waldegrave  would  have 
been  invalid,  according  to  English  law,  which  pro- 
hibits a  marriage  with  a  deceased  husband's  brother, 
but  Mr.  Waldegrave,  being  illegitimate,  the  sou  of 


ILLEGITIMACY.  169 

nobody,  was  also  the  brother  of  no  one,  in  the  eye 
of  the  law.  Had  there  been,  however,  a  son  by  the 
second  marriage,  and  an  earldom  at  stake,  the  next 
heir  would  undoubtedly  have  disputed  the  legit- 
imacy of  the  issue.  But  the  question  did  not  arise, 
and  the  violation  of  one  law  rendered  possible  the 
evasion  of  another. 

Some  of  the  aristocracy  exhibit  a  fidelity  in  these 
irregular  relations  not  always  displayed  toward 
more  respectable  partners.  A  nobleman  who  died 
while  I  was  in  England  was  devoted  to  a  woman 
whom  he  refused  to  marry.  He  was  no  longer 
young,  but  when  his  companion  fell  ill  he  nursed 
her  with  the  tenderness  of  the  fondest  husband,  and 
when  his  cares  proved  vain  and  she  passed  from  his 
arms — ^let  us  hope,  to  a  better  life — his  grief  so  over- 
whelmed him  that  he  could  not  survive  the  loss. 
In  six  weeks  he  followed  her  to  the  tomb.  This 
touching  constancy  is  characteristic  of  the  ftimily, 
which  has  shown  in  several  instances  how  love  can 
rise  superior,  not  only  to  considerations  of  rank  and 
station,  but  to  morality  and  public  sentiment.  Their 
devotion,  however,  has  never  necessitated  the  sacri- 
fice of  position  or  precedence.  During  the  present 
generation,  they  have  filled  important  stations  in 
diplomacy,  secured  the  grants  of  successive  peer- 
ages, and  married  into  families  even  higher  than 
their  own — that  is,  when  they  married  at  all. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  aristocracy  are 


170  ARISTOCEACT   IN    ENGLAND. 

without  virtue.  There  are  houses  and  circles  as 
pure  as  those  of  the  Queen ;  but  there  is  hardly  a 
family  in  the  peerage  that  has  not,  like  the  Queen's, 
its  admitted  illegitimate  connections.  There  is 
probably  no  more  immorality  among  the  upper 
classes  of  England  than  in  the  corresponding  caste 
in  other  countries,  or  possibly  than  in  the  wealthiest 
and  most  pretentious  circles  in  our  own.  But  there 
is  this  difference:  in  America  acknowledged  im- 
morality is  a  bar,  while  in  England  it  detracts  from 
neither  rank  nor  station,  and  men  and  women  have 
consideration  not  only  in  spite,  but  because  of  ille- 
gitimacy. In  one  country  people  are  ennobled  and 
received  because  they  are  bastards ;  in  the  other  the 
shame  is  hidden  and  the  stigma  concealed. 

An  American  woman,  whose  name  is  well  known, 
was  staying  at  Homburg  with  a  duchess,  who  per- 
sisted in  visiting  the  unmarried  companion  of  a 
royal  personage.  The  American  was  not  suffi- 
ciently accustomed  to  aristocratic  ways  to  consider 
the  acquaintance  an  honor,  and  warned  her  ducal 
friend  not  to  speak  to  that  woman  when  they  were 
together.  Soon  after  this  they  passed  the  lady  on 
the  promenade,  and  the  duchess  could  not  bring 
herself  to  reject  the  recognition  of  a  royal  favorite; 
whereupon  the  American,  though  she  had  her  own 
weakness  for  rank  and  was  fully  impressed  by  caste, 
indignantly  left  the  two  Europeans  to  their  own 
company,  and  walked  home  alone. 


ILLEGITIMACr.  171 

The  influence  of  rank  is  unfavorable  to  virtue, 
because  it  not  only  shields  vice,  but  actually  exalts 
immorality.  A  fault  is  more  venial  in  a  duke  than 
in  a  man  of  lower  degree.  A  slip  in  a  woman  of 
high  position  is  easier  overlooked  and  sooner  for- 
gotten ;  and  there  are  peeresses  to-day  who  have 
been  divorced  for  cause  and  remarried,  and  who  are 
received.  This  would  not  be  if  they  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  aristocracy.  Even  women  who  have 
lost  their  position  in  America,  have  regained  it  in 
England.  One  of  these  had  a  great  success  in  the 
higliest  circles  of  London  until  finally  her  history 
became  known.  She  then  went  in  tears  to  one  of 
the  leaders  of  society  and  exclaimed :  "  You  surely 
don't  believe  these  horrible  rumors  about  me  ? "  To 
which  the  countess  replied  :  "  My  dear,  if  they  were 
all  true,  I  shouldn't  think  any  the  less  of  you." 

It  is  not  true  that  the  same  thing  occurs  here  in 
the  same  open  way.  Rank  in  England  often  en- 
ables its  possessor  to  ignore  or  defy  the  shame  that 
here  would  follow  the  sin ;  but  the  stigma  blazes 
boldly  beneath  a  coronet.  When  the  late  Lord 
Chief  Justice  of  England  could  take  a  woman 
whom  he  had  not  married  on  judicial  tours  to  be 
received  by  provincial  dignitaries,  and  respond  to 
toasts  as  a  bachelor  while  his  grown-up  daughters 
sat  by  his  side,  the  state  of  society  is  certainly  dif- 
ferent from  that  existing  in  America.  And  this 
diiference  is  the  direct  result  of  aristocracy.    A  class 


172  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

is  placed  so  high  that  it  can  make  a  social  law  for 
itself  and  defy  the  opinion  of  a  world  composed  of 
inferiors.  At  least  half  a  dozen  peers  of  the  realm 
have  married  women  of  public  lives,  and  these 
women  belong  to  the  peerage.  Their  names  must 
be  set  down  in  Burke. 


xvir. 

SERVANTS  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

I  ONCE  stayed  at  a  famous  castle,  the  master  of 
which  was  very  religious,  and  the  servants  came  into 
chapel  twice  a  day  while  he  read  family  prayers.  I 
recollect  the  long  line  of  flunkeys  in  powder  and 
knee-breeches  prostrate  around  the  earl  as  he  prayed 
fervently  that  we  might  all  be  content  with  that 
state  of  life  to  which  it  had  pleased  God  to  call  us. 
I  had  not  been  long  in  England  then,  and  I  thought 
that  the  prayer  would  be  easier  to  grant  in  the  case 
of  the  master  than  in  that  of  the  man.  Later  in 
my  sojourn  I  should  have  known  different.  The 
lackeys  are  not  democrats.  They  are  of  Pope's 
philosophy  and  thoroughly  convinced  that  "  what- 
ever is,  is  right." 

Descended  often  from  a  long  line  of  ancestral 
menials,  reaching  back  sometimes  like  that  of  their 
betters  to  the  time  of  the  Conqueror,  or  sprung 
from  the  class  of  fanners  or  farm  laborers,  once  vil- 
leins or  serfs  on  the  estates  of  the  nobility,  the 
spirit  of  servility  is  innate  and  ingrained.  They 
firmly  believe  that  the  purpose  of  their  creation 


1Y4  AHISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

was  to  provide  proper  attendance  for  the  aristocracy. 
"  What  would  the  gentry  do  if  there  were  no  serv- 
ants?"  I  have  more  than  once  heard  them  exclaim. 

Their  duty  in  life  begins  early.  A  fortunate  boy 
in  the  country  is  taken  up  to  the  great  house  as 
soon  as  he  is  able  to  trot  about  on  errands ;  he  car- 
ries the  bag  to  the  post,  or  helps  in  the  stables,  or, 
if  especially  favored,  is  made  steward's-room  boy  at 
once,  and  waits  on  the  upper  servants  until  he  is 
promoted  to  livery.  He  is  trained  in  all  the  eti- 
quette of  the  servants'  hall,  says  "  Sir "  and 
"  Ma'am,"  not  only  to  those  great  dignitaries,  the 
butler  and  housekeeper,  but  to  the  valets  and 
ladies'  maids  as  well ;  and  learns  to  speak  with 
bated  breath  in  the  presence  of  the  aristocrats  them- 
selves. The  girl's  first  function  in  life  is  to  drop  a 
courtesy  when  her  betters  pass  her  on  the  road,  or 
to  open  the  gate  at  the  park  lodge  for  the  gentry  to 
drive  by. 

After  a  while  they  rise,  the  one  to  the  post  of 
footman,  the  other  to  that  of  housemaid  or  kitchen 
maid,  and  so  on  through  the  degrees,  till  the  lucky 
ones  arrive,  perhaps,  at  the  climax  of  back-stairs 
grandeur,  and  are  housekeepers  and  butlers  them- 
selves, always  imbued  with  deference  for  their  many 
and  varied  superiors,  and  always  exacting  the  hom- 
age due  themselves  as  they  ascend. 

In  a  great  house  thirty  or  forty  indoor  servants  is 
a  common  number,  and  often  there  are  as  many 


SERVANTS  IN  THE  COUNTRY,         175 

more  in  the  stables,  and  still  as  many  others  in  the 
gardens,  or  the  glass,  as  the  conservatories  are 
called.  One  nobleman  that  I  knew  was  master  of 
the  hounds  and  kept  seventy  horses,  and  for  every 
two  horses  a  man.  At  an  entertainment  in  the 
country — a  sort  of  pageant  or  play — I  heard  some 
one  say  that  a  hundred  of  the  servants  came  into 
the  great  hall  and  stood  behind  the  guests ;  the  re- 
mainder were  on  duty  elsewhere.  Several  times,  in 
large  establishments,  I  asked  pennission  to  visit  the 
offices ;  and  the  kitcliens  and  still-rooms  and  scul- 
leries, the  larders  and  laundries,  the  gun-rooms  and 
plate-rooms  and  brushing-rooms,  the  housekeepei*'s 
room,  the  pantries,  and  the  servants'  hall,  made  a 
labyrinth  of  labor  difficult  to  explore.  In  making 
the  rounds  I  was  taken  to  the  nurseries  and  the 
school-rooms,  for  tutors  and  governesses  are  only  a 
higher  sort  of  servant  in  England.  They  live  and 
eat  apart  from  the  gentry,  and  often  get  less  wages 
than  valets  and  ladies'  maids.  I  saw,  too,  the  bed- 
rooms and  the  linen-rooms  and  the  rooms  where 
the  maids  were  making  up  clothes,  all  rising  when 
their  mistress  entered.  I  visited  the  stables  and 
the  carpenter's  shop,  even  the  butchery  and  the 
brewer}^ — for  many  of  the  large  proprietors  kill  their 
own  meat  and  brew  their  own  beer.  Each  servant  is 
allowed  beer  money  as  well  as  wages,  or  else  sup- 
plied with  so  many  glasses,  or  sometimes  literally 
horns,  of  beer. 


176  AEISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

Usually  the  servants  of  the  aristocracy  are  allowed 
five  meals  a  day.  Their  early  breakfast  is  at  seven, 
before  the  family  has  risen ;  there  is  lunch  for  them 
at  eleven,  dinner  at  one  o'clock,  tea  at  five,  and  a 
supper  at  nine.  At  most  of  these  meals  meats  are 
provided,  and  at  two  or  three  of  them  beer  is 
served.  The  food  is  well  cooked  and  savory ;  they 
sit  down  to  soup  and  pastry,  to  fruits  and  vege- 
tables in  their  season;  and  altogether  a  table  is 
spread  better  than  many  of  what  is  called  the 
middle  class  can  afford.  Indeed,  servants  in  En- 
gland can  hardly  be  said  to  belong  to  the  lower 
class — certainly  not  the  retainers  of  the  aristocracy. 
The  attendance  in  the  servants'  hall  is  excellent, 
decorum  is  maintained,  and  the  more  punctilious 
perform  among  themselves  many  of  the  ceremonies 
they  have  watched  from  behind  the  chairs  of  the 
nobility. 

They  have  their  privileges,  and  stickle  for  them 
as  strenuously  as  the  lords.  A  butler  often  gets  a 
hundred  pounds  a  year  in  wages,  but  his  vails 
amount  to  at  least  a  hundred  more.  Servants  have 
been  known  to  stipulate,  when  they  were  hired,  for 
plenty  of  entertaining,  so  that  they  could  count  on 
their  perquisites.  At  some  houses,  however,  the 
attempt  has  been  made  to  break  up  this  inhospi- 
table tax  upon  guests.  There  are  noblemen  who 
increase  the  wages  of  their  servants  on  condition 
that  they  accept  nothing  from  visitors,  though  the 


SERVAJSTTS    IN   THE   COUNTEY.  177 

same  personages  usually  make  handsome  presents 
when  they  visit  themselves.  To  people  of  limited 
means  the  consideration  of  servants'  presents  is  a 
serious  one,  and  makes  visiting  sometimes  more  ex- 
pensive than  staying  at  home.  But  the  custom  is 
rooted,  and  the  perquisite  will  not  readily  be  aban- 
doned. The  story  is  old  of  the  gamekeeper  who 
refused  to  receive  a  sovereign  from  his  master's 
guest.  He  would  take  nothing  less  than  paper, 
and  the  smallest  bank-note  in  England  is  for  five 
pounds. 

The  cooks  in  large  establishments  have  for  one 
of  their  perquisites  what  are  called  the  drippings, 
the  remains  of  uncooked  meat  and  game.  One 
man  of  large  fortune  told  me  that,  wishing  to  dis- 
tribute these  fragments  to  his  poorer  tenants  in  the 
neighborhood,  he  offered  his  cook  two  hundred 
pounds  a  year  for  the  privilege.  But  the  successor 
of  Yatel  refused,  and  the  aristocrat  was  helpless, 
unless  he  gave  up  a  chef  who  had  hardly  an  equal 
in  England. 

In  the  presence  of  their  masters  the  English  ser- 
vants maintain  a  manner  that  may  almost  be  said 
to  be  refined.  It  is  quiet  and  subdued  ;  too  obse- 
quious perhaps  to  suit  the  democratic  idea,  but 
otherwise  unobjectionable.  This  manner,  however, 
is  something  like  the  livery,  put  on  for  their  supe- 
riors, and  laid  aside,  I  suspect,  as  soon  as  they  are 
alone. 
12 


178  ARISTOCRACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

In  many  old  families  there  still  lingers  among 
the  retainers  an  attachment  for  those  they  serve,  a 
fidelity  and  devotion  that  recall  the  feudal  feeling, 
and  which  are  returned  by  a  protection  and  interest 
that  make  the  tie  a  not  unlovely  one.  I  knew  in- 
stances of  friendship  on  both  sides  as  sincere  and 
loyal,  if  not  as  familiar,  as  ever  exists  among 
equals. 

I  was  staying  once  with  a  young  nobleman  who 
had  a  crowd  of  peers  for  guests.  We  had  been 
dining  some  miles  away,  and  drove  back  late  at 
niofht  in  what  is  called  an  omnibus.  The  valet  of 
one  of  the  visitors,  a  lad  of  nineteen  or  twenty,  stood 
on  the  steps  without.  By  a  jolt  of  the  carriage  this 
youth  was  thrown  off  into  the  road,  while  we  were 
still  some  distance  from  the  house,  and  the  whole 
party  alighted  to  look  after  him.  He  was  unable  to 
walk  or  to  endure  the  motion  of  the  carriage,  and  a 
couple  of  viscounts,  an  officer  of  the  army,  and  a 
baronet  carried  the  valet  a  quarter  of  a  mile  up  a 
steep  hill,  then  bore  him  into  the  room  of  the 
master  of  the  house,  and  one  tore  open  his  shirt  to 
look  for  his  wound.  There  was  no  surgeon,  so 
they  bathed  his  breast  and  his  forehead  themselves, 
and  the  youth  lay  on  the  nobleman's  bed  till  it  was 
certain  he  was  not  seriously  injured.  Not  till  then 
did  the  gay  young  rollickers  assemble  below  for 
their  late  carouse. 

I  knew  of  another   nobleman  whose  eldest  son 


SERVANTS  IN  THE  COUNTRY.         179 

was  standing  for  Parliament.  The  contest  was 
keen,  and  the  excitement  in  the  family  extended  to 
the  servants.  Finally,  the  heir  was  elected,  and 
the  news  was  brought  to  the  Earl  and  the  Countess 
as  they  stood  on  the  steps  of  the  house  in  a  crowd 
of  friends  and  followers.  The  butler,  a  very  re- 
spectable man  of  fifty  or  more,  who  had  been  in  the 
family  all  his  life,  was  unable  to  contain  his  delight. 
He  rushed  up  to  his  mistress,  threw  his  arms  around 
her  and  kissed  her,  and  the  salute  was  forgiven  by 
the  lady  as  well  as  the  lord.  I  did  not  witness  this 
demonstration  of  fidelity,  but  I  was  told  of  it  by  an 
Englishman  who  was  present,  and  pronounced  it 
unusual,  but  not  inexcusable. 

The  Queen,  it  is  well  known,  sets  the  pattern  in 
this  consideration  for  personal  retainers.  She  not 
only  visits  her  gillies  in  the  Highlands,  but  the  ser- 
vants on  all  her  estates;  she  attends  their  balls 
and  christenings  and  funerals;  she  invites  them 
at  times  to  entertainments  at  which  she  is  present 
in  person,  an  honor  she  never  pays  the  nobility  ; 
and  her  affection  for  her  devoted  John  Brown  she 
has  been  anxious  to  make  known  to  the  world. 

Twice  I  was  present  at  country-houses,  when  the 
servants  joined  in  a  dance  with  the  family.  Once 
it  was  after  a  servant's  wedding,  which  was,  of 
course,  an  event.  On  the  other  occasion,  at  a  well- 
known  lodge  in  the  Grampians,  a  Highland  reel 
was  proposed,  but  there  were  not  ladies  enough  to 


180  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

go  round,  so  the  best-looking  of  the  housemaids 
were  brought  in  and  j)laced  in  the  line  with  mar- 
chionesses and  the  daughters  of  earls.  One  was  by 
far  the  prettiest  of  her  sex  in  the  room,  and  the  heir 
of  the  house  didn't  like  it  at  all  if  any  of  his  guests 
danced  too  often  with  this  maid.  But  none  of  these 
young  spinsters  presumed  on  the  favor  that  was 
shown  them ;  the  distance  in  rank  was  too  great  to 
be  bridged  by  any  transient  familiarity.  It  was 
the  very  consciousness  of  the  gulf  that  made  the 
condescension  possible. 

At  the  house  of  a  nobleman  who  had  a  crowd  of 
sons,  and  these  always  a  crowd  of  boyish  visitors,  the 
whole  frolicsome  party  was  sent  oif  nightly  after 
the  ladies  had  retired,  to  a  distant  tower  of  the 
castle,  where  they  might  make  as  much  noise  as 
they  pleased.  They  drank,  and  they  smoked,  and 
they  played  cards,  and  had  two  or  three  of  the  foot- 
men told  off  to  them,  who  stayed  up  half  tlie  night 
with  their  young  masters,  to  wait  on  them,  and 
amuse  them.  The  young  men  were  all  of  the  same 
age,  and  the  gentlemen  often  invited  the  servants 
to  a  cigar  or  a  glass,  and  not  unseldom  to  a  turn  at 
the  gloves,  for  most  young  Englishmen  box.  They 
played  fair ;  the  lords  and  the  lackeys  wrestled  to- 
gether on  an  equality.  The  servant  might  get  his 
master  down,  if  he  could,  and  if  the  valet  struck 
out  from  the  shoulder,  the  gentleman  took  his  pun- 
ishment like  a  man.     Onl)^  when  the  lords  went  to 


SERVANTS    EST   THE   COUNTRY.  181 

bed  the  lackeys  had  still  an  hour  in  the  brushing- 
room,  whitening  the  hunting-breeches  of  their 
masters  for  next  day's  field. 

In  this  same  family  there  was  once  an  attempt  at 
private  theatricals.  The  play  was  "  Box  and  Cox," 
and  no  one  could  be  found  for  the  landlady,  till 
finally  one  lordling  proposed  his  valet,  a  smooth- 
faced footman  of  nineteen.  So  William  was  dressed 
in  woman's  clothes  and  played  2frs.  Bouncer  with 
his  master  and  another  nobleman  before  all  the 
quality.  He  was  greatly  applauded.  But  how  it 
would  have  done  to  give  him  the  part  of  a  lord  I 
don't  know.  I  doubt  if  he  could  have  divested 
himself  sufficiently  in  that  presence  of  his  awe  for 
his  titled  associates.  Below  stairs  he  might  have 
assumed  the  role  of  an  aristocrat  and  succeeded. 
I  should  like  to  have  seen  him  attempt  the  grand 
air. 

The  servants  of  the  great,  like  the  aristocracy 
themselves,  must  be  amused.  The  necessity  is 
recognized.  There  are  houses  where  they  have  a 
billiard-room  and  a  card-room.  They  ride  to  hounds 
behind  their  masters.  They  boat  with  their  betters. 
I  have  seen  a  valet  for  coxswain  and  earls  in  the 
crew,  and  one  lord  is  well  known  to  have  boiTowed 
from  his  man  and  never  to  have  paid.  There  are 
often  matches  at  cricket  between  the  gentlemen  and 
the  servants,  with  the  mistresses  and  maids  look- 
ing on. 


182  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

Indeed,  it  is  said  that  some  ladies  amuse  them- 
selves with  the  low-born  swains  after  a  fashion  not 
so  innocent.  I  often  heard  the  name  of  a  duchess, 
not  now  living,  connected  with  that  of  her  groom 
of  the  chambers,  and  a  countess  who  waited  at 
Windsor  was  discovered  caressing  her  footman  in 
her  own  drawing-room. 

It  is  true  rich  men's  daughters  in  America  have 
fallen  in  love  with  their  coachmen.  Passion  laughs 
at  the  barriers  of  position  on  both  sides  of  the  sea ; 
but  here  the  lovers  marry.  In  England,  in  most 
aristocratic  eyes,  marriage  would  inflict  a  still  more 
indelible  stain.  It  would  affront  the  sentiment  of 
caste. 


XVIII. 
SERVANTS   IN   TOWN. 

The  servants,  like  the  aristocracy,  are  seen  to  far 
less  advantage  in  town.  The  entire  establishment 
of  a  nobleman  is  seldom  brought  np  to  London,  and 
footmen  and  housemaids  are  often  hired  for  the 
season.  These  vicarious  servitors,  of  course,  have 
none  of  the  devotion  of  permanent  retainers,  and 
pretend  to  little  attachment  for  their  masters,  who 
hardly  know  them  when  they  see  them,  the  retinues 
are  so  enormous.  I  used  to  visit  a  duchess  who  got 
very  indignant  when  only  six  footmen  waited  as 
she  went  to  her  carriage.  "  Where  are  all  those 
men?"  she  would  ask,  as  she  looked  around.  "  But 
she  is  justly  punished  for  her  pride,"  said  one  of  the 
family ;  "  since  the  duke  died  she  has  only  four." 

The  footmen  are  usually  great  strapping  fellows, 
selected  for  their  height  and  the  size  of  their  calves. 
A  tall  one  fetches  more  than  a  short  one,  and  many 
ladies  are  particular  that  they  shall  be  good-looking. 
In  great  establishments  there  is  one  called  "her 
ladyship's  footman,"  for  especial  attendance  on  his 
mistress,  and  she  naturally  likes  him  to  be  present- 


184  ARISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

able.  The  advertisements  in  the  Times  always 
mention  if  a  man  is  more  than  six  feet  high,  for 
every  inch  is  worth  at  least  a  pound  a  year  in  his 
wages.  They  make  a  fine  sight  with  their  breeches 
and  their  buckles ;  and  powder  refines  the  face,  as 
ladies  very  well  know.  But  they  are  an  expensive 
luxury.  There  is  a  tax  of  a  pound  a  year  on  every 
man-servant,  and  two  pounds  if  he  is  in  powder. 
Some  of  them  are  obliged  to  wear  wigs,  for  the 
livery  of  certain  noblemen  requires  it.  I  knew  a 
family  who  always  put  their  people  into  green  wigs 
when  they  went  to  court ;  it  was  the  hereditary- 
color  for  ceremony. 

State  liveries,  of  course,  are  grander  than  those 
for  ordinary  occasions ;  the  lackeys  have  their  court 
dresses  like  the  lords.  An  unaccustomed  eye  might 
easily  mistake  the  master  for  the  man  in  the  crowd 
of  gorgeous  frippery  and  uncovered  legs  about  the 
palace  door.  Formerly  there  was  a  certain  way  to 
tell  a  gentleman :  he  never  carried  a  bouquet.  But 
the  test  is  not  unfailing :  flowers  have  nearly  gone 
out  of  fashion  for  footmen,  as  well  as  canes.  Favors, 
however,  are  still  worn  at  weddings,  so  huge  that  if 
the  mode  were  attempted  here,  the  unfortunate 
wearers  would  be  taken  for  lunatics.  But  all  this 
paraphernalia  is  familiar  in  London.  In  fasliionable 
quarters  you  often  see  footmen  walking  the  streets 
in  powder  and  without  their  hats,  so  as  not  to  dis- 
arrange their  hair ;  and  nobody  stares. 


SERVANTS    IN    TOWN.  185 

The  lackeys  themselves  think  livery  no  disgrace, 
but  rather  a  distinction,  a  proof  that  thej  serve 
people  of  importance.  The  more  conspicuous  the 
garb,  the  brighter  the  yellow  of  the  waistcoat  or 
the  scarlet  of  the  cuffs,  the  larger  the  cockade  or 
the  longer  the  topcoat-tails,  the  finer  a  genuine 
flunkey  feels.  Besides  which,  they  have  two  suits 
a  year,  and  the  sale  of  the  cast-off  clothes  brings 
quite  an  addition  to  their  revenues.  They  never  con- 
descend to  take  up  with  the  garments  of  their  pred- 
ecessors, though  one  thrifty  nobleman,  who  could 
not  induce  his  footman  to  assist  in  his  economies,  is 
said  to  have  had  the  lace  ripped  from  the  trousers 
and  covered  his  own  aristocratic  shanks  with  the 
altered  livery.  But  no  servant  who  respected  his 
class  would  submit  to  this  humiliation. 

Footmen  are  piincipally  for  ornament.  Dressed 
finer  than  their  masters,  fed  often  as  well — for  they 
drink  up  the  heel-taps  at  dinner,  and  pilfer  the 
pates  and  jellies,  no  doubt,  as  they  take  them  down 
stairs — they  lead  a  lazy  life,  sitting  on  cushioned 
carriages,  or  lounging  in  front  of  shops  and  palaces, 
with  benches  placed  for  them  on  the  pavements 
while  they  wait.  They  are  always  conspicuous 
figures  on  the  drive  or  at  dinner,  at  the  opera  or 
a  ball.  People  in  society  see  as  much  of  the  ser- 
vants as  of  themselves,  and  the  servants  see  all 
that  their  betters  do,  and  mock  and  despise  them 
while  they  bow  and  obey. 


186  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

If  a  stranger  to  the  customs  and  the  language 
should  suddenly  be  thrust  into  the  entrance-room  at 
a  London  ball,  he  might  easily  suppose  that  these 
lordly  creatures,  in  their  breeches  of  plush  and  hose 
of  silk,  with  their  silver  buckles  and  powdered  hair, 
their  easy  manners  and  constant  bows,  were  the 
especial  dignitaries  of  the  occasion  ;  while  without, 
the  throng  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  flunkeys  bringing 
up  carriages  or  waiting  to  be  called,  watching  the 
company  coming  and  going,  handing  out  the  ladies, 
and  taking  orders  from  the  gentlemen,  make  a  part 
of  the  scene  as  actually  as  the  plainer  dressed  aris- 
tocrats whom  they  serve.  But  it  is  a  noisy  mob 
in  the  street.  They  lose  all  their  elegance  on 
the  pavement — crowding,  chattering,  pushing,  in- 
sulting the  gentlemen  whom  they  do  not  know  and 
criticising  the  ladies  they  do,  incessantly  shout- 
ing, "  Lady  Somebody's  carriage,"  "  Coming  up," 
"  Setting  down,"  "  Gone  for  the  carriage,"  as 
often  in  mockery  as  in  earnest,  and  altogether  as  in- 
solent and  dangerous  a  rabble  as  can  be  seen  any- 
where in  the  world.  A  parcel  of  scamps  in  a 
lockup  suddenly  left  uncontrolled  could  hardly  be 
vulgarer  or  ruder.  They  seem  to  revenge  them- 
selves for  the  restraints  they  submit  to  all  the  rest 
of  their  lives.  Here  the  aristocrats  are  at  their 
mercy.  They  must  have  their  carriages  and  they 
can't  get  them  themselves ;  and  the  lackeys  delight 
in  annoying  and  disappointing  and  delaying  them, 


SERVANTS    IN   TOWN.  187 

with  only  half  the  show  of  serving.  One  can  fancy 
what  the  class  might  be  capable  of  in  a  revolution. 
A  night  scene  in  front  of  a  London  ball  makes  one 
think  of  the  jpoissardes  and  petroleuses  of  Paris. 
The  contrast  with  the  sleek  sycophancy  within  is 
terrible  in  its  suggestiveness. 

After  setting  down  their  company,  the  carriages 
■usually  hurry  off  to  a  beer-house,  where  the  foot- 
man may  enter,  but  the  coachman  is  supposed  to 
remain  on  the  box,  and  his  beer  and  his  pipe  are 
brought  out  to  him.  But  I  have  often  seen  the 
boxes  empty  in  my  strolls  about  London  after  mid- 
night. Early  in  the  evening  the  fine  people  stay 
only  a  short  while  at  each  house ;  there  are  usually 
four  or  five  parties  a  night  before  the  ball,  and  the 
servants  have  then  little  time  for  themselves.  Still 
they  often  take  their  own  friends  for  a  drive  in  the 
ducal  equipage,  or  hire  it  out  for  a  fare,  and  keep 
their  masters  waiting  half  an  hour  in  the  hall  of 
some  great  house,  the  footman  at  last  excusing  the 
delay  with  a  lie  only  half  believed.  The  carriages 
can  be  known  by  the  arms  and  the  liveries ;  and  the 
purlieus  where  they  are  seen,  the  crews  with  which 
they  are  crowded,  tell  their  own  tale.  It  is  not  the 
owners  who  are  their  sole  occupants. 

After  the  company  is  fairly  deposited  at  a  ball, 
all  is  safe  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  the  liberty  of  the 
lackeys  begins.  The  coachman  and  footman  often 
get    drunk    together;    quarrels    and    scuffles    are 


188  AEISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

common ;  the  police  are  called  in ;  horses  are  some- 
times lamed  and  carriages  smashed,  but  thej  usu- 
ally contrive  to  be  ready  to  take  their  company 
home,  though  sometimes  at  the  risk  of  their  lives. 

These  gentry,  who  go  to  four  or  five  parties  a 
night,  are  allowed  to  lie  late  in  the  morning.  It  is 
daylight  often  and  often  before  they  tm'n  in,  and 
half  of  them  breakfast  just  in  time  to  wait  on  my 
lady  for  her  shopping,  or  her  ^dsits  in  the  after- 
noon. 

In  town  the  question  of  j)erquisites  comes  up 
again ;  not  now,  it  is  true,  from  vails  or  visitors ; 
only  a  raw  American  tips  a  footman  or  a  butler  at 
a  dinner  or  a  ball.  But  the  tradesmen's  bills  are 
settled  in  London,  and  the  servants  have  established 
a  system  of  discount  which  contributes  materially 
to  their  incomes,  if  it  lessens  those  of  their  masters. 
A  shilling  in  a  pound  is  the  ordinary  toU ;  I  had  a 
house  in  London  and  can  speak  by  the  card.  In 
dividing  this  impost  the  rules  are  rigorously  ob- 
served. The  valet  gets  his  discount  on  the  tailor's 
and  hatter's  and  bootmaker's  bills ;  the  cook  on  the 
butcher's  and  fishmonger's  and  green  grocer's  ;  the 
butler  on  the  wines ;  he,  too,  has  the  empty  bottles, 
so  that  you  may  not  economize  by  retaining  or  re- 
turning them.  The  coachman  is  entitled  to  the 
perquisite  on  forage,  as  well  as  on  the  hire  of  car- 
riages and  horses,  and  in  London  most  people  hire 
at   least   their  horses,  leaving   their   own   in   the 


SEKVANT8    IN    TOWN.  189 

country.  I  once  bought  a  harness  for  a  certain 
number  of  pounds,  but  my  coachman  went  to  the 
harness-maker  and  had  the  bill  made  out  for 
guineas,  so  that  he  might  secure  the  extra  shilling 
in  the  pound.  The  servant  who  betrayed  this  to 
me  was  considered  false  to  his  class. 

There  is  little  use  in  struggling  against  the 
system.  A  duke  with  an  enormous  fortune  at- 
tempted to  stem  the  tide,  but  succumbed  ignomin- 
iously.  He  hired  a  poor  gentleman  to  supervise 
his  bills,  and  paid  them  through  him,  but  the  ser- 
vants were  in  league  with  the  tradesmen,  and  re- 
ceived their  perquisites  all  the  same;  while  his 
Grace  was  so  badly  served  that  the  peace  of  his  life 
was  destroyed,  and  he  was  glad  to  capitulate  with- 
out the  honors  of  war.  As  a  tradesman  once  said 
to  an  American  Minister  in  my  hearing :  "  Your 
Excellency  must  expect  to  pay  for  being  your  Ex- 
cellency." 

Another  perquisite  is  the  cast-off  clothes.  The 
valets  and  the  ladies'  maids  are  entitled  to  these, 
and  are  outraged  if  you  make  any  contrarj^  disposi- 
tion of  them.  I  once  gave  a  child  about  my  house 
some  old  pocket-handkerchiefs,  at  which  my  valet 
protested  ;  and  I  heard  the  little  one  retort :  "  You 
get  the  shirts."  They  often  look  smarter  than  those 
they  serve,  wearing  their  wardrobes  sometimes  on 
finer  figures.  I  have  heard  of  ladies  who  sold  their 
satins  to  their  maids,  though  never  of  a  gentleman 


190  AKISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

who  bargained  in  old  clothes  with  his  man.  When 
lovely  woman  really  stoops  to  anything  unworthy, 
she  can  descend  to  a  point  that  leaves  our  sex  far 
behind. 

The  servants  have  then*  clubs  as  well  as  their 
masters ;  there  are  two  or  three,  I  believe,  for  valets 
and  butlers,  besides  others  for  those  of  lower  de- 
gree, for  the  line  must  be  drawn.  The  under  but- 
ler, for  instance,  cleans  the  plate,  and  uses  his 
thumb  in  the  operation  till  it  becomes  unusually 
developed,  and  an  under  butlei-'s  thumb  is  often 
examined  when  he  is  hired ;  like  the  cah'  of  the 
footman,  it  is  valuable  according  to  size.  Now,  it 
can  hardly  be  expected  that  a  person  thus  marked 
should  be  admitted  to  the  society  of  valets  and 
grooms  of  the  chamber,  at  least,  until  his  thumb 
has  been  reduced  to  genteel  proportions. 

But,  after  all,  good  servants  take  good  care  of 
good  masters.  Granting  them  what  they  consider 
their  due,  giving  them  the  consideration  and  civil 
treatment  which  they  often  deserve,  not  interfering 
with  their  prejudices  and  perquisites,  one  can  ex- 
tract a  deal  of  satisfaction  from  the  condition  of  life 
where  such  servants  exist.  They  relieve  one  of 
many  of  the  annoyances  and  petty  cares  that  take 
up  the  time  of  householders  elsewhere.  If  you  find 
honest  ones — and  there  are  many — and  if  you  can 
afford  a  certain  outlay,  there  is  no  place  in  the 
world  where  servants  contribute  so  much  to  the 


SERVANTS    IN    TOWN.  191 

comfort  of  existence  as  in  England ;  and  if  you 
make  them  friends  they  are  faithful    indeed. 

When  I  first  lived  in  London  I  had  a  valet  who 
watched  over  me  with  curious  care.  He  had  only 
served  dukes  and  foreign  ministers  before  me,  and 
considered  it  a  great  feather  in  my  cap  to  possess 
such  a  piece  of  paraphernalia  as  he.  He  supposed 
as  an  American  I  must  be  unused  to  the  ways  of 
the  aristocracy,  and  lie  wanted  to  bring  me  on.  At 
first  he  would  remind  me  that  we  hadn't  paid  our 
visits  since  we  dined  at  such  a  house,  and  he  once 
ventured  to  remonstrate  because  I  visited  a  person 
of  the  middle  class.  He  said  I  had  a  very  good 
connection,  and  it  was  a  pity  for  me  to  visit  below 
my  station.  His  station  in  life  depended  upon 
mine,  and  it  hurt  his  consequence  to  be  the  servant 
of  a  person  who  dined  with  any  but  the  aristocracy. 
I  once  heard  him  say  to  a  fellow  servant  that  he 
had  been  in  as  good  company  as  any  duke  or  earl 
in  England,  only  he  stood  behind  the  chairs.  He 
was  in  his  glory  when  I  went  to  court,  and  I 
thought  he  would  expire  with  satisfaction  when  I 
was  invited  to  Windsor. 

The  servants,  indeed,  are  all  apt  to  magnify  the 
consequence  of  their  masters  in  order  to  keep  up 
their  own.  I  was  once  driving  in  a  park  where 
only  privileged  persons  can  pass  after  a  certain 
hour.  I  stayed  too  late,  and  my  brougham  was 
stopped  by  the  lodge  keeper.     "  Who  goes  there  ? " 


192  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

But  I  heard  my  coachman  boldly  reply,  "  Royals," 
intimating  that  a  royal  personage  was  within,  and 
we  drove  by  in  state  before  I  could  rebuke  his 
officiousness. 

However,  I  had  my  drawbacks  as  well.  I  once 
entered  a  gallery  in  the  House  of  Commons  reserved 
for  diplomatists  and  peers,  where,  as  Secretary  of 
Legation,  I  had  a  right  to  a  seat.  But  one  of  the 
attendants  saw  that  I  had  not  the  foreign  air;  I 
looked  homespun  and  British,  I  suppose ;  and  he 
knew  all  the  nobility;  so  he  tapped  me  on  the 
shoulder,  and  said:  "Come  out  of  there;  you  are 
not  a  peer." 


XIX. 
A  NOBIiEMAN  INDEED. 

Sometimes  Americans  attribute  to  an  aristocracy 
both  merits  and  graces  that  are  not  often  centred  in 
an  individual ;  nevertheless,  there  are  members  of 
the  class  whose  nobleness  is  innate,  and  the  memory 
of  whose  acquaintance  it  is  a  delight  to  recall.  The 
picture  of  one,  especially,  will  linger  long  with  me. 

He  was  both  an  Irish  and  an  English  peer ;  of 
illustrious  lineage  and  almost  the  highest  rank ; 
middle-aged  and  unmarried  when  I  first  met  him ; 
of  enormous  fortune  and,  of  course,  with  troops  of 
friends.  His  manner  was  the  perfection  of  simplic- 
ity ;  as  natural  as  that  of  a  peasant,  as  refined  as 
that  of  a  prince  ought  to  be.  It  made  me  think  of 
the  exquisite  clearness  of  water  or  of  a  diamond. 
There  was  no  suggestion  of  manner  at  all.  You 
saw  straight  through  it  to  the  man. 

The  most  definite  consciousness  of  rank  I  ever 
discovered  in  him  was  his  humility  that  he  should 
be  an  hereditary  peer.  He  often  said  to  me  he  was  a 
sorry  legislator.  He  believed,  indeed,  that  the  peer- 
age was  doomed,  and,  though  he  never  admitted  so 
13 


194  AKISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

mucli,  I  think  lie  believed  it  had  no  right  to  exist, 
that  it  ought  to  be  swept  away.  But  he  was  in  no 
haste  to  bring  out  the  broom,  and  very  well  content 
that  the  institution  should  last  his  time.  Still,  he 
voted  with  the  Liberals  on  nearly  every  occasion — 
that  is,  when  he  voted  at  all,  for  he  was  often  out 
of  England  years  at  a  time.  He  was  a  picked 
man  of  countries ;  had  seen  Japan  and  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  every  European  court. 

In  his  youth,  he  visited  with  his  tutor  one  of  the 
little  German  principalities,  where  the  British  en- 
voy at  once  oifered  to  present  the  social  magnate  at 
the  petty  court.  The  peer  was  willing,  but  he  was 
very  fond  of  his  tutor,  a  man  only  a  few  years  older 
than  himself,  and  a  person  of  great  refinement.  So 
the  nobleman  asked  the  minister  to  present  his 
friend  at  the  same  time;  but  this  the  punctilious 
representative  declared  to  be  impossible;  a  tutor 
could  not  possibly  go  to  court ;  he  would  not  even 
submit  so  preposterous  a  proposition  to  the  palace 
functionaries.  The  young  aristocrat,  however,  re- 
fused to  be  presented  without  his  friend,  and,  though 
his  name  had  been  sent  in,  it  was  withdrawn,  and 
the  British  Jonathan  proceeded  with  his  David  to 
another  dukedom  where  the  chamberlains  and  the 
diplomatists  did  not  disturb  them. 

He  perceived,  nevertheless,  the  advantages  of  his 
nobility.  We  were  together  once,  for  a  day  or  two, 
in  Italy,  and  I  recollect  his  telling  me  that  he  had 


A    NOBLEMAN    INDEED.  195 

jnst  left  the  party  of  a  kinsman,  a  man  of  enormous 
wealth  and  great  position,  who  had  twice  refused  a 
peerage ;  but  the  peer  declared  he  had  himself  re- 
ceived far  more  consideration  in  travelling  than  his 
relation  who  was  not  noble.  The  title  counted  with 
the  couriers  and  Swiss  innkeepers.  He  chuckled  a 
little  at  the  sycophancy,  but  it  was  in  scorn. 

He  had  the  softest,  blandest  manner,  the  gentlest 
smile  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  man,  combined  with 
perfect  self-possession  and  dignity  of  bearing.  His 
courtesy  was  unfailing,  and  not  confined  to  deport- 
ment; it  was  carried  into  deeds.  He  was  inces- 
santly doing  something  to  add  to  the  comfort  or  hap- 
piness of  others.  I  can  recall  a  score  of  instances 
in  which  he  considered  mine ;  and  I  cannot  flatter 
myself  that  I  was  exceptional  in  his  regard.  Once 
he  breakfasted  with  me  to  meet  an  American  of 
good  position,  but  who  was  often  boorish  in  his  be- 
havior. On  this  occasion  the  republican  complained 
of  the  churlishness  of  the  English,  who,  he  said, 
never  invited  Americans  to  their  clubs.  He  had 
been  in  London  for  a  month  and  met  a  number  of 
prominent  Englishmen,  no  one  of  whom  had  shown 
him  this  civility.  I  blushed  for  the  taste  of  my  com- 
patriot, but  before  the  party  separated  the  English- 
man inquired  of  me  the  American's  address,  and 
the  same  day  sent  him  an  invitation  to  the  most 
exclusive  club  in  London. 

This  liberal  patrician  was  connected  with  half  the 


196  AKISTOCBACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

nobility,  and  at  one  or  two  houses  where  I  was  for- 
tunate enough  to  be  on  intimate  terras  I  sometimes 
met  him  when  there  were  no  other  guests.  He  was 
then  perfectly  delightful.  We  spent  hours  together. 
He  told  me  stories  of  all  the  great  English  people, 
initiated  me  into  the  secrets  of  family  histories, 
sparing  neither  national  foibles  nor  individual  pecu- 
liarities ;  for  he  was  not  insipid ;  he  was  a  shrewd 
observer,  and  not  averse  to  satire,  for  all  his  amia- 
bility. He  knew,  or  had  known,  every  one  worth 
knowing  in  the  highest  English  society.  He  had 
never  known  any  other,  and,  if  there  was  a  narrow- 
ness at  all  about  him,  it  came  from  this  restriction 
of  his  English  field  of  vision.  He  could  describe 
the  career  and  the  character  of  every  Prime  Minis- 
ter and  ambassador  for  the  last  forty  years.  If  he 
spoke  of  any  people  I  had  not  met  who  he  thought 
would  interest  me,  he  would  either  give  me  letters 
to  them  or  more  often  write  direct  to  them  and  ask 
them  to  invite  me.  Many  a  tour  of  visits  he  thus 
arranged,  passing  me  on  from  one  delightful  house 
to  another. 

I  was  always  charmed  to  see  him  when  I  entered 
a  strange  house  to  dinner,  or  to  sit  near  him, 
whether  the  hosts  were  old  or  new  acquaintances. 
He  looked  out  for  my  precedence  ;  always  had  me 
put  up  as  high  as  he  could,  and  near  agreeable  peo- 
ple ;  asked  me  whom  I  wished  to  know,  and  pre- 
sented me  with  the  most  favorable  introductions, 


A    NOBLEMAN    INDEED.  197 

tliough  his  endorsement  was  itself  sufficient  in  any 
circle  in  England. 

His  heart  was  warm  as  well  as  his  m'banity  de- 
lightful. When  the  great  fire  in  Chicago  occurred 
he  sent  me  a  letter  enclosing  his  check  for  a  hun- 
dred pounds,  which  he  begged  me  to  forward  for 
the  benefit  of  the  sufferers;  and  shortly  afterward  en- 
closed a  second  check  for  fifty  more,  regretting  that 
the  Irish  troubles  had  so  reduced  his  income  that 
he  was  unable  to  contribute  as  freely  as  he  desired. 
lie  said  he  had  received  too  many  kindnesses  from 
Americans  not  to  wish  to  do  something  when 
Americans  were  in  distress. 

He  had  apparently  no  aptitude  or  ambition  for 
public  life,  and  had  never  been  in  politics.  He 
hardly  possessed  first-rate  ability,  yet  his  ideas  were 
often  original,  and  his  penetration  was  keen.  He 
was  well  read  and  spoke  several  languages;  his 
taste  in  art  and  his  appreciation  of  nature  were  alike 
refined.  His  opportunities,  of  course,  had  been  the 
best,  and  as  far  as  storing  his  mind  and  cultivating 
his  taste,  he  had  made  the  best  use  of  them  ;  but  he 
had  not  turned  his  faculties  to  any  graver  account. 
He  was  a  good  master,  a  loyal  friend,  a  refined  and 
amiable  associate ;  but  he  made  no  effort  to  be  or  to 
do  more.  Perhaps  he  knew  his  own  limitations, 
and  at  least  he  did  no  positive  harm  to  any  one. 
His  life  was  spent  in  elegant  ease  and  unobtrusive 
charities.      Whether  this  was  all   that  he  should 


L98  AKISTOCRACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

have  achieved  in  so  splendid  a  position  his  own 
conscience  best  could  declare.  Since  he  is  not 
living,  I  may  say  that  he  always  impressed  me  as 
feeling  that  he  had  not  made  sufficient  use  of  his 
advantages.  He  seemed  aware  that,  with  such  gifts 
of  fortune  and  station,  he  ought  to  have  accom- 
plished something  more  for  his  countiy  or  the  world. 
But  of  how  few  cannot  this  be  said  in  any  country 
or  in  any  class. 

When  I  first  met  this  choice  specimen  of  the 
manhood  of  any  natiou,  aristocratic  or  republican, 
he  had  an  income  of  sixty  thousand  pounds,  and  I 
was  told  by  those  who  knew  him  well  that  bis  kind- 
nesses and  charities  on  his  own  estates  bad  made 
him  the  idol  of  his  tenants ;  but  the  crash  in  Irish 
fortunes  came,  and  he  suffered  with  the  rest.  His 
steward  was  shot,  his  own  life  was  not  safe  on  his 
own  property,  and  he  was  an  exile  from  the  lands 
his  fathers  had  held  for  generations.  His  income 
fell,  I  was  told,  to  six  or  seven  hundred  pounds. 
And  then  bis  nobility  became  conspicuous,  for 
it  was  an  attribute,  not  an  appanage.  When  the 
drapery  fell  off  the  figure  was  seen  to  advantage. 
He  made  no  complaint  of  the  injustice  of  treating 
him  as  if  he  bad  been  a  harsh  landlord  and  cruel  mas- 
ter ;  he  did  not  intermit  his  efforts  to  do  them  good 
at  whose  hand  he  suffered.  And  this  was  not  from 
pusillanimity.  It  was  not  weakness  of  opinion  or 
consciousness  of  wrongdoing.     His  judgment  was 


A   NOBLEMAN    INDEED.  199 

opposed  to  the  course  of  the  Irish  party  and  to  the 
policy  of  Mr.  Gladstone  at  that  epoch.  He  may 
have  been  warped  by  his  interest  or  blinded  by  his 
partiality,  but  he  took  a  more  decided  stand  in 
politics  than  ever  before  ;  he  went  to  the  House  of 
Lords  to  vote  in  accordance  with  his  convictions  and 
against  those  with  whom  he  had  formerly  acted ; 
but  neither  his  misfortunes  nor  his  opinions  induced 
him  to  swerve  in  his  treatment  of  his  tenants,  or 
aifected  his  feeling  for  them.  !N^o  unkind  word  for 
them  escaped  his  lips  when  he  discussed  the  situa- 
tion, which  for  him  was  so  calamitous.  On  the 
contrary,  I  heard  him  excuse,  if  not  defend  them. 
The  magnanimity  of  this  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
which  he  at  least  had  not  provoked,  was  almost 
Christ-like. 

The  moment  of  his  disaster  was  most  inopportune. 
He  had  married  not  long  before  a  lady  of  lineage 
equal  to  his  own,  but  the  wealth  he  had  offered  her 
disappeared,  and  the  coronet  seemed  a  mockery 
without  its  appendages  of  state  and  fortune.  One 
of  their  relatives  told  me  they  were  living  in  lodg- 
ings in  an  unfashionable  part  of  London,  and  kept 
no  carriage ;  "  and  you  know  what  that  means," 
said  the  high-born  dame.  "  A  doctor  or  a  lawyer 
may  set  up  a  carriage  or  put  it  down,  according  as 

he  prospers  for  the  time;  but  for  one  of  us " 

and  she  could  not  complete  the  sentence. 

Her  noble  kinsman  did  not  take  his  reverses  so 


200  ARISTOCEACY    IN    ENGLAND, 

to  heart.  He  offered  his  paternal  acres  and  the 
mansion  stocked  with  statuary  for  sale,  and  while 
waiting  for  the  result  took  a  modest  little  box  near 
London,  where  he  was  good  enough  to  ask  me  to  be 
his  guest.  I  was  charmed  to  go,  and  of  all  the  aris- 
tocratic residences  I  visited  in  England  none  so  im- 
pressed me  with  the  nobility  of  its  master.  I  was 
received  with  the  same  courtly  grace  as  if  the  man- 
sion had  been  a  ducal  one.  There  was  no  retinue 
of  followers,  no  great  service  of  plate ;  a  single  man 
to  wait,  a  table  ungarnished  with  costly  wines ;  but 
no  excuses  were  made ;  there  was  no  allusion  to  the 
change  of  circumstances  or  the  lack  of  state.  The 
ceremony  was  as  punctilious,  the  conversation  as 
brilliant  and  unconstrained,  the  grand  air  as  ap- 
parent as  ever.  I  was  taken  in  a  fly  to  visit  earls, 
who  evidently  thought  no  less  of  their  peer  because 
of  the  diminution  of  his  income ;  and,  democrat  as 
I  was,  I  could  not  but  think  that  if  birth  and  rank 
produced  such  results  as  this  unconscious  dignity 
and  enchanting  grace  with  which  misfortune  was — 
not  borne,  but  ignored — not  every  consequence  of 
aristocracy  could  be  condemned.  Only  I  insist  that 
this — I  wish  I  might  call  him  friend — would  have 
been  just  as  much  of  a  nobleman  if  he  had  been 
bom  an  American  and  a  democrat.  He  was  one  of 
nature's  aristocrats. 


XX. 

SPIRITUAL    PEERS. 

The  Church  in  England  13  a  branch  of  the  aris- 
tocracy. Bishops  rank  with  viscounts  and  arch- 
bishops go  before  dukes.  The  first  personage  in 
the  land,  after  the  royal  family,  is  "his  Grace,  the 
Right  Honorable  and  Most  Reverend,  the  Lord 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  by  divine  Providence 
Primate  of  all  England  and  Metropolitan."  The 
other  Bishops  are  not  by  "  divine  Providence,"  only 
by  "divine  permission."  Bishops,  too,  are  only 
right  reverend,  but  an  archbishop  is  most  reverend. 
The  heirs  of  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  are  punctil- 
ious about  their  distinctions  and  their  precedence. 

Nevertheless,  most  of  the  prelates  are  low-born. 
They  rise  sometimes  by  dint  of  subserviency,  some- 
times, it  is  true,  by  force  of  talent  and  learning ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  the  worldlier  arts  count  for  more 
than  intellectual  traits,  and  I  never  heard  that 
charity,  humility,  long  snflfering,  or  the  other  Chris- 
tian graces  were  considered  at  all.  These  are  virtues 
which  the  Prime  Minister  leaves  to  be  their  own 
reward. 


202  AEISTOCEACY  EST    ENGLAND. 

For  it  is  the  Prime  Minister  who  settles  the  suc- 
cession to  the  Apostles  and  determines  on  whom  the 
Holy  Spirit  shall  be  invited  to  descend.  He  appoints 
every  bishop  and  primate  in  the  Establishment,  and 
selects  them  from  his  own  party  as  regularly  as 
when  he  makes  a  judge  or  an  ambassador.  If,  like 
Mr.  Gladstone,  he  is  a  man  with  a  religious  turn  of 
mind,  he  is,  of  course,  more  likely  to  choose  from 
his  own  ecclesiastical  clique ;  but  as  most  Premiers 
are  not  troubled  with  a  strong  religious  bias,  they 
care  little  whether  the  bishop  is  high  church  or  low. 
The  question  with  them  is,  first,  whether  he  will 
support  or  oppose  them  in  ordinary  politics,  and, 
next,  whether  he  will  make  trouble  in  Church 
affairs.  If  they  have  no  personal  favorite  to  place 
and  no  political  debts  to  pay,  they  look  for  a  mod- 
erate man,  who  wiU  not  lean  too  strongly  to  either 
faction,  but  keep  peace  among  the  brethren.  A 
mild  and  amiable  person,  without  too  much  zeal, 
who  will  neither  entangle  the  Premier  in  polemics 
nor  inveigle  him  into  crusades,  is  the  sort  of 
man  most  likely  to  be  made  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

There  is,  however,  a  world  of  manoeuvring  and 
back-stairs  influence,  female  devices,  royal  intrigues, 
and  all  sorts  of  political  and  diplomatic  chicanery 
at  once  set  in  motion  whenever  a  bishop  has  been 
promoted  to  a  better  place  or  a  better  world.  The 
vacant  post  is  the  object  of  ambition  to  half  the 


SPIRITUAL    PEERS.  203 

important  clergy  in  the  kingdom  (and  their  wives), 
and  one  man,  as  human  as  the  rest,  is  to  decide. 

There  are,  of  course,  men  ofabihtj  and  learning 
on  the  episcopal  bench,  and  there  are  none  to-day 
who  disgrace  it  by  their  lives ;  but  there  are  many 
who  would  never  have  been  selected  by  Him  who 
appointed  the  Apostles,  nor  by  laity  or  clergy,  if 
these  had  a  voice  in  choosing  their  leaders.  The 
brightest  lights  in  the  English  Church  are  not  in 
the  golden  candlesticks.  The  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
like  the  late  Bishop  of  Manchester,  has  adorned  his 
place,  though  the  appointment  of  each  was  bitterly 
opposed ;  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  is  learned,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  eloquent,  but  both  are 
partisans ;  and  Liddon,  like  Stanley  and  Milman, 
has  remained  unconsecrated,  while  a  crowd  of  his 
inferiors  received  the  mitre  which  he  deserved. 

The  Queen,  it  was  said,  repeatedly  urged  the 
elevation  of  Dean  Stanley  to  the  bishops'  bench, 
but  had  not  sufficient  miluence  to  carry  her  point. 
The  story  may  not  be  true,  for  Gladstone  certainly 
was  Stanley's  friend,  and  the  Dean  probably  pre- 
ferred his  independence  and  the  life  of  London 
society,  in  which  he  was  a  brilliant  figure,  to  the 
precedence  and  responsibility  of  episcopacy,  and 
exile  to  the  provinces  for  half  of  every  year.  More 
than  once  I  heard  him  boast  that  as  Dean  of  West- 
minster he  was  subject  to  no  diocesan.  If  it  had 
been  otherwise,  he  might  perhaps  have  aspired  to 


204:  AEISTOGRACY   IN    ENGLAND, 

a  see,  for  the  deans  often  quarrel  with  their  bishops, 
especially  about  the  control  of  the  cathedrals.  There 
have  been  fierce  fights  over  the  figures  on  the 
reredos  and  the  ornaments  in  the  choir. 

The  story  was  also  current  at  one  time  that  the 
canon  who  gave  up  a  Princess  to  Lord  Lome  was 
to  be  rewarded  for  his  sacrifice  with  a  bishopric, 
and  many  a  diatribe  was  pointed  with  the  taunt  of 
so  discreditable  a  bargain.  This  tale  also  may  have 
been  without  foundation,  but  that  the  rumor  should 
have  been  afloat  at  all  shows  that  ecclesiastical 
preferment,  like  more  mundane  prizes,  is  believed 
to  go  by  favor. 

A  bishop  often  begins  his  career  as  tutor  to  a 
lord,  who  in  due  time  presents  him  to  a  benefice  ; 
or  perhaps  he  has  been  master  at  a  public  school, 
where  he  made  acquaintance  with  the  parents  of 
his  aristocratic  pupils.  If,  after  a  while,  ambition 
stirs  within  him,  he  begins  to  write  political 
pamphlets,  or  preaches  political  sermons,  or  makes 
himself  in  various  ways  acceptable  to  the  dispensers 
of  sees ;  and  finally,  when  a  diocese  falls  vacant 
and  his  patron  is  in  power,  the  adroit  calculator 
and  courtier  is  converted  into  a  Father  in  God. 

Even  then  his  struggles  are  not  over,  for  there 
are  degrees  in  the  episcopacy.  One  see  difiereth 
from  another  see  in  glory — and  emolument.  The 
pay  of  an  ordinary  bishop  is  only  $25,000,  while 
that  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  is  $T5,000  a 


SPIEITtJAL   PEEE8.  205 

year.  One  bishopric  has  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords  attached  to  it,  another  is  without  this  distinc- 
tion ;  and  though  every  bishop  is  by  courtesy  styled 
My  Lord,  and  none  of  them  disclaim  the  title,  only 
certain  fortunate  ones  are  in  reality  peers  of  the 
realm.  Of  late  years,  in  order  to  restrict  the 
number  of  spiritual  aristocrats,  only  two  or  three  of 
the  most  important  prelates  are  allowed  permanent 
seats  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  all  the  others  are 
obliged  to  take  turn  and  turn  about  in  being  peers. 
This  makes  the  lesser  hierarchs  strive  earnestly  for 
the  prize  that  is  set  before  them.  They  declaim 
eloquently  in  favor  of  the  minister  who  can  pro- 
mote them ;  they  preach  and  pray  for  him ;  they 
vote  for  his  measures  when  they  have  the  chance  ; 
they  talk  for  him  in  society,  and  finally  perhaps 
attain  the  goal  of  their  ambition,  that  highest  seat 
at  feasts  which  their  Master  declared  is  not  to  be 
desired. 

But  there  is  a  drawback  to  their  grandeur.  The 
glory  is  very  much  like  that  of  the  monarch  and 
the  lords,  a  show  and  a  sham  after  all.  Not  only 
because  the  mitres,  like  the  coronets  and  the  crown, 
are  trembling  on  the  heads  of  those  that  wear 
them;  not  only  because  of  the  imminence  of  dises- 
tablishment and  the  certainty  of  approaching 
change ;  but  even  while  it  lasts  the  glitter  is  tanta- 
lizing and  unreal. 

The  great  prelate  who  crowns  the  sovereign  and 


206  ARISTOCKACT    m    ENGLAND, 

performs  the  marriage  and  the  burial  service  over 
the  royal  family,  has  few  functions  of  higher  impor- 
tance than  these.  In  the  union  of  Church  and 
State  the  Church  is  subordinate,  and  the  lesson  is 
constantly  inculcated.  If  the  State  endows  and 
supports  the  Church,  it  must  also  govern  and  con- 
trol. Parliament  determines  the  doctrines  and 
regulates  the  rubrics  of  the  Establishment.  It 
settles  not  only  what  vestments  shall  be  worn  and 
if  candles  may  be  used,  but  whether  there  is  a  real 
presence  in  the  Eucharist,  and  if  baptismal  re- 
generation shall  be  believed.  A  Parliament  in- 
cluding Catholics  and  Jews  and  infidels  legislates 
for  the  Protestant  Church  of  England,  creates  and 
deposes  its  dignitaries,  decides  upon  its  rites,  pro- 
nounces upon  its  creed ;  and  all  the  consecrated 
Fathers  in  God  accept  its  decisions  and  conform  to 
its  commands,  rather  than  lose  their  terrestrial  ad- 
vantages. 

When  this  mighty  fabric  of  time-serving  and 
worldliness,  called  an  Establishment,  shall  have 
passed  away ;  when  the  money-changers  have  been 
swept  from  the  temple,  and  the  example  of  the 
Founder  of  the  Church  is  followed  by  the  Church 
and  in  the  Church ;  these  spiritual  peers  who  now 
sit  beside  dukes  and  viscounts,  and,  for  the  sake  of 
their  dignities  and  their  incomes,  submit  to  the 
yoke  of  politicians  in  things  spiritual  and  eternal; 
who  are  told  by  Parliament  what  doctrines  they 


SPLRITUA.L    PEERS.  207 

shall  preach  to  their  flocks,  in  what  belief  they  shall 
worship,  with  what  form  they  shall  approach  the 
Holy  Table  in  the  most  sacred  right  of  their  re- 
ligion, will  be  pronounced  the  veriest  Esaus  that  ever 
sold  a  celestial  birthright  for  a  mess  of  earthly  pot- 
tage that  the  world  has  seen. 


XXI. 
THE  POMPS   AND  VANITIES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  style  of  the  spiritual  peers  is  in  keeping 
with  their  rank.  The  residence  of  a  bishop  is 
called  a  palace,  his  seat  in  the  cathedral  is  a  throne. 
The  principal  servant  of  Him  who  had  not  where 
to  lay  his  head  has  three  mansions  at  his  disposal — 
Lambeth  Palace  for  a  town  house,  and  Addington 
Park  and  Stone  House,  Thanet,  when  he  prefers  to 
disport  himself  in  the  country.  Every  bishop  keeps 
his  chaplain  to  read  prayers  for  him  when  his  lord- 
ship is  disinclined  to  perform  this  duty  in  person. 
The  lower  clergy  address  the  members  of  the  hier- 
archy with  obsequious  reverence ;  they  "  My  Lord  " 
them  and  "  Your  Grace "  them  at  every  opportu- 
nity. For  the  prelates  have  a  prodigious  amount 
of  spiritual  patronage,  livings  in  abundance  to  dis- 
pense to  discreet  inferiors.  Though  their  pay  has 
been  cut  down,  it  still  equals  that  of  any  minister 
in  the  Government,  to  say  nothing  of  palaces  and 
sinecure  benefices  and  other  desirable  perquisites. 

Their  demeanor  corresponds  with  their  con- 
dition;  there  are   no  more   pompous    or  inflated 


THE   POMPS    AND  VANITIES    OF  THE   CHURCH,    209 

personages  in  the  peerage.  Thej  wear  breeches 
and  shovel  hats  in  the  street  and  aprons  at  dinner, 
and  are  as  scrupulous  about  the  shape  and  the  cut 
of  their  clothes  as  any  courtier  or  Quaker  going  to 
a  meeting  or  a  levee.  They  are  people  of  high 
fashion,  too.  They  like  the  pleasures  of  the  world 
as  well  as  its  dignities.  The  present  Archbishop 
of  York  bas  been  caricatured  in  the  public  prints 
as  the  "  Archbishop  of  Society,"  and  the  late  Bishop 
of  Oxford  was  familiarly  known  in  aristocratic 
circles  as  "  Soapy  Sam."  An  antagonist  once  re- 
ferred to  his  "  saponaceous  "  quality  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  the  allusion  was  so  irreverent  and 
felicitous  that  society  was  shocked  and  tickled  in 
almost  equal  degree. 

Bishops,  as  a  matter  of  course,  are  conservative 
in  politics.  They  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  ap- 
prove tbe  union  of  Church  and  State,  and  detest 
the  Badicals,  who  advocate  disestablishment.  Many 
of  them,  it  is  true,  have  been  appointed  as  Liberals. 
More  sees  of  late  years  have  happened  to  be  in  the 
gift  of  Liberal  ministers  than  of  Conservatives,  and 
in  the  lists  of  the  Ilouse  of  Lords  you  will  find  the 
bishops  all  classified  according  to  their  appoint- 
ment. But  once  in  place  they  are  like  the  decrepid 
Pope  who  threw  away  his  crutches  as  soon  as  he 
was  elected ;  and  the  stanchest  advocates  of  privi- 
leo;e  and  caste  in  Eno-land  are  the  ministers  of 
Him  who  declared  the  least  among  you  shall  be 
14 


210  AEISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

the  greatest,  and  that  His  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world. 

Their  votes  can  be  counted  on  for  every  hoary 
abuse  or  vested  wrong.  Bishops  have  opposed 
every  liberal  measure  ever  introduced  into  Parlia- 
ment ;  especially  every  ecclesiastical  reform.  They 
resisted  Catholic  emancipation,  the  removal  of  the 
disabilities  of  the  Jews,  the  extension  of  university 
privileges  to  dissenters,  and  every  approach  to 
toleration,  or  to  placing  "  the  sects  "  on  an  equality 
with  that  Church  of  which  they  are  the  nobility. 
They  fought  bitterly  against  the  disestablishment  of 
the  Irish  Church,  because  they  saw  that  it  presaged 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  deposition  and  de- 
thronement of  their  own. 

Their  interference  in  politics  is  sometimes  very 
positive.  Not  long  ago  during  an  agricultural  agita- 
tion a  bishop  was  addressing  a  meeting  of  farmers 
and  laborers,  and  significantly  recommended  his 
hearers  not  to  duck  the  agitators  in  the  nearest 
horse-pond  ;  his  advice  was  understood  and  appre- 
ciated. At  the  last  elections  the  two  primates  of 
England,  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York, 
united  in  a  political  manifesto,  adi'oitly  inculcating 
the  necessity  of  defending  and  maintaining  the 
Establishment.  They  appeared  only  to  enjoin  cau- 
tion in  the  exercise  of  the  franchise;  but  as  the 
Tories  proclaimed  and  the  bishops  believed  that  dis- 
establishment was  at  issue,  the  unprecedented  archi- 


THE   POMPS    AND  VANITIES   OF   THE    CHURCH.    211 

episcopal  fulmination  was  as  unmistakable  as  the 
episcopal  allusion  to  a  horse-pond.  Yet  all  these 
right  reverend  and  most  reverend  dignitaries  would 
have  denounced  any  resort  to  the  Jesuitical  methods 
of  the  disciples  of  Loyola. 

Usually  the  highest  in  the  hierarchy  are  plebeian 
in  origin,  perhaps  because  at  the  start  they  thought 
more  highly  of  others  than  themselves,  and  so  could 
submit  more  easily  to  slights,  be  more  subservient 
to  power ;  and,  as  preferment  often  depends  upon 
subserviency,  they  have  been  more  persistently  pro- 
moted. But  some  are  temporal  peers  in  their  own 
right,  as  well  as  lords  spiritual,  and  some  are  the 
sons  of  peers.  These  are  right  honorable  as  well  as 
right  reverend.  They  do  not  lose  their  inherited 
rank  because  of  any  ecclesiastical  honors  they  may 
acquire.  For  them  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  and 
the  glory  of  the  celestial  may  be  combined. 

From  magnates  such  as  these  to  colonial  bishops 
is  a  long  step  downward,  almost  as  great  a  descent 
as  to  an  American  Father-in-God.  The  colonial 
bishops  are,  it  is  true,  right  reverend,  but  they  do 
not  belong  to  the  aristocracy ;  they  have  no  seats  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  no  palaces,  hardly  a  chaplain. 
Nevertheless,  they  may  wear  the  dress  of  their 
order,  and  the  uninitiated  often  call  them  :  "  My 
Lord;"  but  they  are  not  mneh  invited  in  high 
society.  They  are  Chiistians  of  the  upper-middle 
class. 


212  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

Tlie  wives,  alas !  of  even  the  highest  clerical 
potentates  are  not  peeresses.  They  are  in  sight  of 
the  promised  land,  but  may  never  enter.  I  have 
often  seen  them  marching  unwillingly  at  the  tail  of 
the  procession  to  dinner,  and  heard  them  express 
their  indignation,  sometimes  in  hardly  Christian 
terms,  that  they  should  be  excluded  from  the  place 
and  precedence  accorded  to  their  husbands.  Their 
sufferings  at  such  times  are  evidently  acute. 

Queen  Elizabeth  once  paid  a  visit  to  a  certain 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  received  Her  Maj- 
esty in  a  manner  becoming  her  station  and  his  own. 
The  monarch,  however,  disapproved  the  marriages 
of  the  clergy,  and  upon  lea\'ing  Lambeth  she  ac- 
knowledged the  hospitahty  of  the  archbishop's  wife 
with  royal  arrogance :  "  Madam  I  will  not  call  you ; 
Miss  I  may  not ;  but  whatever  you  are,  I  thank 
you."  The  validity  of  the  marriages  of  these  ladies 
is  no  longer  questioned,  but  their  disagreeable  posi- 
tion doubtless  is  a  relic  of  the  ancient  uncertainty. 

Nevertheless  the  episcopal  and  archiepiscopal 
dames  make  the  most  of  the  positions  they  occupy. 
Many  of  them  have  not  fully  renounced  the  pomps 
and  vanities  of  the  world,  despite  their  baptismal 
vows  ;  they  like  to  throw  open  the  episcopal  saloons 
for  balls  and  amateur  theatricals,  and  Solomon  in 
all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  some  of  these. 
Others  strive  by  every  social  art  to  advance  their 
own  position  and  their  husband's  rank,  though,  as 


THE    POMPS    AND  VANITIES    OF  THE   CHUKCH.    213 

often  happens  in  other  spheres,  their  ambition  some- 
times exceeds  their  tact.  I  remember  a  bishop,  who 
was  universally  supposed  to  have  been  egged  on  by 
his  wife  into  utterances  of  a  political  character  that 
damaged  not  only  his  spiritual  usefulness,  but  his 
temporal  prospects — they  so  overshot  the  mart. 
Another  lady  was  believed  to  have  inspired  her  son, 
who  wanted  the  post  of  Chamberlain  of  London,  a 
plebeian  but  very  profitable  place.  The  young  man 
issued  a  circular  setting  forth  his  own  qualifications, 
prominent  among  which  he  mentioned  that  he  was 
the  eldest  son  of  a  peer,  and  all  society  tittered  at 
the  eldest  son  of  a  peer  who  could  never  succeed 
his  father. 

The  pomp  and  circumstance  that  surround  the 
English  prelates  once  made  a  profound  impression 
on  some  of  their  Episcopal  brethren  from  America, 
who  looked  with  admiring  eyes  on  Lambeth  and 
the  bishops'  bench  in  the  House  of  Peers.  Satirical 
Englishmen  used  to  say  that  the  consecrated  repub- 
licans were  sure  to  simper  if  they  were  called  "My 
Lord,"  and  some  of  them  got  breeches  and  aprons 
to  wear  to  dinner.  They  said  that  being  in  Eng- 
land it  was  proper  to  dress  as  bishops  in  England 
do.  By  the  same  rule  American  anny  officers  in 
England  should  wear  the  British  uniform.  I  fear 
the  right  reverend  fathers  were  anxious  for  once  to 
feel  like  peers. 


XXII. 

CHURCH  AND  STATE. 

The  Churcli  of  England  is  the  church  of  the  Tip- 
per classes.  "Whatever  it  does  for  the  people  it  does 
as  their  superior.  It  is  a  part  of  the  paternal  sys- 
tem, and  assists  in  governing  the  masses  as  a  father 
governs  his  family.  Perhaps  one  should  rather  say 
it  is  a  relic  of  feudalism,  and,  like  the  army,  is  still 
officered  exclusively  by  the  gentry.  Its  advocates 
make  their  boast  that  the  Church  maintains  a  gen- 
tleman in  every  parish  ;  and  no  more  potent  engine 
exists  to  uphold  and  supplement  the  aristocracy. 
The  parson  and  the  squire,  like  the  noble  and  the 
bishop,  are  on  the  same  side.  The  Established 
Church  inculcates  submission  and  deference  to  what- 
ever else  is  established ;  it  instructs  the  people  to 
order  themselves  lowly  and  reverently  toward  their 
betters,  and  to  do  their  duty  in  that  state  of  life  to 
which  it  has  pleased  God  to  call  them. 

The  Church  in  England  is  "  established  "  by  law. 
It  is  founded,  not  on  the  principle  of  divine  au- 
thority, like  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  on  the  de- 
crees and  decisions  of  Parliaments  and  courts.     Its 


CHURCH    AND    STATE.  215 

head  is  not  the  Yicar  of  Christ,  but  the  Queen.  It 
is  not,  like  our  Protestant  sects  of  every  denomina- 
tion in  America,  a  voluntary  association  based  on 
the  consent  of  those  who  compose  its  communion ; 
it  is  imposed  on  the  people  of  England  by  the  aris- 
tocracy, of  which  it  is  a  component  jmrt.  Originally 
"established''  by  Henry  VIII.  because  he  wanted 
to  shift  his  wives,  it  remained  a  monument  and  in- 
strument of  royal  authority  until  the  lords  usui-ped 
the  place  of  the  King  in  the  English  system,  and 
then  it  adapted  itself  to  the  change  and  became  the 
bulwark  and  appurtenance  of  the  aristocracy,  which 
it  still  remains. 

England  is  divided  into  12,000  parishes,  in  every 
one  of  which  there  is  a  resident  clergyman  who  re- 
ceives one-tenth  of  the  income  of  the  land.  The 
ancient  tithe  in  kind  is  commuted,  but  the  clergy 
still  obtain  their  tenth  in  residence,  glebe,  and  com- 
muted tithe.  This  is  in  addition  to  the  revenues  of 
the  bishops  and  to  the  expenditure  for  the  care  of 
the  church  edifices.  These  12,000  clergymen  con- 
stitute one-fourth  of  the  resident  landowners  of  the 
kingdom.  Their  incomes  average  more  than  $1,500 
a  year.  They  are  landowners  as  absolutely  as  the 
peers ;  for  they  also  are  tenants  for  life  and  cannot 
be  dispossessed  short  of  a  revolution — unless  in  case 
of  crime  or  gross  immorality.  They  cannot,  it  is 
true,  dispose  of  their  estates  by  will ;  but  neither 
can  one  in  ten  of  the  larger  landholders.     From  the 


216  ABISTOCRACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

ArclibisLop  of  Canterbury,  with  his  $75,000  a  year, 
down  to  the  humblest  incumbent  of  a  parish,  they 
are  emphatically  part  of  the  landed  interest.  Nat- 
urally the  Church  is  conservative.  It  believes,  with 
Rob  Roy,  tha,t 

"  They  should  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  they  should  keep  who  can." 

The  power  of  appointing  the  clergy  is  itself  a 
piece  of  property.  It  is  commonly  attached  to  the 
land.  The  incumbent  of  a  living  is  usually  ap- 
pointed by  the  squire  or  some  neighboring  noble- 
man, in  whose  family  the  privilege  descends  like 
any  other  inheritance.  The  greatest  miscreant  in 
life  or  infidel  in  belief  may  appoint  the  clergyman, 
if  he  owns  the  land.  If  a  child  inherits,  the  guard- 
ian sometimes  exercises  the  right ;  and,  worse  yet, 
the  right  may  be  sold.  The  succession  to  a  wealthy 
piece  of  preferment  is  often  disposed  of  years  in  ad- 
vance. Tou  may  read  in  the  Times,  in  this  year 
of  our  Lord,  advertisements  of  advowsons,  as  the 
right  of  patronage  is  called — the  "cure  of  souls" 
for  sale.  Often  the  notice  mentions  that  the  in- 
cumbent is  old,  and  the  property  is  so  much  the 
more  valuable,  for  the  succession  will  be  speedier. 
Then  the  advowson  fetches  a  higher  price.  The 
Bishop  of  Peterborough  has  stated  within  the  present 
year,  that  out  of  six  thousand  livings  in  private  pat- 
ronage, two  thousand  are  frequently  in  the  market. 


CHTJKCII    AJSTD    STATE.  217 

The  squire  usually  appoints  his  second  son  to 
the  benefice.  The  eldest  inherits  the  estate,  and 
the  next  one  takes  the  parish ;  or,  if  there  is  no 
second  son,  some  other  member  of  the  family  gets 
an  inning.  But  large  proprietors,  of  course,  have 
many  livings  in  their  gift,  and  thus  the  distribution 
extends  beyond  the  immediate  connection.  Some- 
times the  gentleman  in  every  parish  is  the  scape- 
grace of  the  family,  compelled  to  enter  the  Church 
against  his  will,  to  earn  his  bread  and  butter  in  a 
genteel  way.  Many  incumbents  hold  duplicate  and 
sinecure  benefices,  and  employ  curates  to  do  the 
work  for  a  paltry  stipend,  while  the  real  owners 
reap  the  lawful  and  larger  income.  Personal  fit- 
ness has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  appoint- 
ment, and  the  choice  of  the  souls  who  are  to  be 
"cured"  counts  for  nothing  at  all.  They  have 
no  more  to  say  about  Avho  shall  be  their  spiritual 
pastor  and  doctor  than  the  sheep  of  any  other 
flock  in  selecting  their  shepherd,  or  their  shepherd's 
dog. 

Even  a  Jew  who  owns  the  property  may  present 
the  priest  to  a  Christian  church  and  the  church 
is  obliged  to  receive  him.  I  knew  a  wealtliy 
Jewish  baronet  who  bought  an  old  estate,  and  was 
not  contented  till  he  had  secured  the  advowson, 
which  had  been  sold  away  from  the  property.  He 
chuckled  over  his  purchase  and  his  privilege.  A 
Catholic,  he  said,  could  not  present  to  a  living; 


218  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

the  laws  prohibit  that  outrage  on  the  Protestant 
Chureli ;  but  the  preposterous  supposition  that  a 
Jew  could  possess  the  prerogative  had  never  been 
entertained. 

This  squire  by  purchase  built  a  superb  country- 
house  overlooking  his  parish  churcli,  which,  as  often 
happens,  stood  within  the  park.  You  could  see  it 
from  the  windows  and  the  porch.  It  stood  close  to 
the  new  stables.  But  the  proprietor  of  the  older 
faith  was  very  liberal ;  he  often  invited  the  parson 
to  dinner,  and  the  dependant  was  proud  to  sit  at 
his  master's  table.  The  reverend  gentleman  was  a 
fox-hunter,  a  card-playing  parson ;  one  of  a  race  not 
yet  extinct,  though  the  breed  diminishes  fast.  I 
often  saw  him  ride  to  hounds  in  "  pink,"  and  two  or 
three  times  a  week  he  played  cards  for  money  with 
his  Jewish  patron.  He  was  not  clever,  nor  learned, 
but  by  no  means  an  uninteresting  or  unworthy 
man  ;  simply  out  of  his  place  and  time ;  a  survival ; 
like  the  State  Church  itself,  a  relic  of  customs  that 
are  nearly  past. 

The  squire's  wife  sometimes  played  the  organ 
for  the  Christian  service,  and  I  was  told  presented 
vestments ;  she  even  restored  an  effigy  of  that  Lord 
whom  her  ancestors  had  crucified.  This  truly  Cath- 
olic couple  had  crowds  of  Christian  guests,  who 
went  to  church  in  the  park,  and  on  Trinity  Sunday 
prayed  in  the  squire's  own  pew  for  "  Jews,  Turks, 
and  other  infidels." 


CHURCH   AND    STATE.  219 

The  baronet  and  his  wife  were  liberal  in  temporal 
things,  as  well  as  spiritual.  One  day  the  children 
of  the  village  had  a  tea  in  the  servants'  hall,  and  I 
was  permitted  to  attend  the  feast,  for  I  was  known 
to  be  curious  about  English  customs.  The  mistress 
was  present,  and  at  a  signal  from  the  housekeeper 
one  of  the  little  ones  said  grace  over  the  tea,  end- 
ing the  petition  with  "  for  Jesus'  sake,"  and  all  the 
children  bowed  the  head,  at  that  name,  in  the 
Israelitish  presence. 

I  visited  another  house  where  the  master  was  a 
Protestant  earl,  and  he,  too,  had  his  religious 
chuckle,  though  for  a  different  cause.  He  was  the 
neighbor  of  a  family  far  older  than  his  own,  though 
not  ennobled.  On  the  ancient  estate  there  stood  a 
church,  built  long  before  the  Eeformation.  The 
house  of  the  squire  was  so  near  that  it  had  once 
been  connected  with  the  choir  ;  in  fact,  all  had  been 
one  building.  The  bones  of  the  family  had  been 
buried  within  the  venerable  walls,  and,  despite  the 
Eeformation,  you  may  still  read  "  Ora  pro  nobis  " 
on  the  brasses  of  the  pavement ;  but  the  Protestant 
service  is  said  over  them  now.  The  family,  how- 
ever, remained  Catholic,  and  the  presentation  to  the 
church  that  stands  under  the  window  of  the  son  of 
its  founder  is  in  the  gift  of  the  Protestant  earl  six 
miles  away. 

The  Catholics  have  had  their  day.     "When  the 
Marquis  of  Ripon   became  a  Catholic  some  years 


220  ARISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

ago,  he  gave  up  the  numerous  livings  in  his  gift, 
and  his  wife  or  his  son  has  the  presentation  now,  for 
a  woman  may  present  to  a  living,  though  she  may 
not  sit  in  Parliament,  nor,  except  in  rare  instances, 
inherit  a  peerage.  The  Catholic  Dukes  of  Norfolk 
are  the  premier  nobles  of  England,  and  have  a 
chapel  at  Arundel,  where  they  are  buried  in  the 
church  erected  by  their  ancestors,  but  the  mass 
must  be  said  on  the  outside. 

Nevertheless  the  chancel  wall  is  broken  down  for 
them.  They  are  dukes  if  they  are  Catholics,  and  in 
England  the  privileges  of  the  gr^t  extend  within 
the  House  of  God.  Armorial  bearings  on  the  walls 
remind  the  spectator  of  the  former  importance 
of  those  who  rot  beneath,  and  the  pews  are  some- 
times canopied,  so  that  royal  and  noble  sinners 
can  pray  with  dignity. 

The  pews  in  the  parish  churches  are  often  pecu- 
liar. I  once  stayed  at  a  house  where  you  stepped 
out  of  a  corridor  into  a  large,  square  room,  car- 
peted, with  chairs  and  a  table,  and  in  cold  weather 
there  was  fire  in  a  grate.  One  side  of  this  pew 
overlooked  the  chancel,  so  that  the  family  could  sit 
out  of  sight  of  the  congregation  and  participate  in 
the  service,  or  not,  as  they  pleased.  If  the  preacher 
was  prosy  they  left  without  being  observed.  In 
great  things  and  small  the  Church  of  England 
consults  the  convenience  and  the  consequence  of 
those  by  whom   and   for  whom   the   existence  of 


CHUKCH    AND    STATE.  221 

the  Establishment  is  maintained.  The  church  and 
the  mansion,  the  palace  and  the  cathedral,  like 
the  Church  and  the  aristocracy,  are  part  of  one 
fabric,  built  into  each  other,  so  that  one  portion 
can  hardly  be  removed  without  the  whole  edifice 
tumbling. 


XXIII. 
THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

The  influence  of  the  Peers  is  not  confined  to 
their  own  chamber.  It  is  through  the  House  of 
Commons  that  the  aristocracy  has  long  exercised  a 
great  portion  of  its  swaj. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  the  lower 
House  was  at  once  dependent  and  corrupt.  Nearly 
all  its  members  were  the  direct  nominees  of  the 
Lords,  or  were  returned  through  their  interest.  For 
a  member  of  Parliament  may  be  returned  without 
an  election.  He  is  nominated  with  the  proper  forms, 
and  if  there  is  no  opposition,  he  is  declared  returned 
without  any  voting  whatever.  Thus  70  members 
were  returned  by  35  places  in  England  and  Wales 
in  which  there  were  scarcely  any  electors  at  all ;  90 
members  were  returned  by  46  places  with  less  than 
40  electors  each,  and  37  members  by  19  places 
having  not  more  than  100  electors.  In  Scotland,  in 
1823,  when  the  population  was  2,000,000,  the  total 
number  of  persons  enjoying  the  franchise  was  less 
than  3,000.  In  1831  the  county  of  Argyll,  with  a 
population  of  100,000,  contained  only  115  persons 


THE    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS.  223 

entitled  to  vote.  Caithness,  with  30,000  inhabitants, 
had  11  voters.  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  had  eacli  a 
constituency  of  33  persons. 

In  the  county  of  Bute,  which  had  14,000  inhabit- 
ants, there  was  only  one  resident  elector.  This 
voter  was  once  the  only  person  present  at  an  elec- 
tion besides  the  sheriff  and  the  returning  oflBcer. 
He  took  the  chair,  constituted  the  meeting,  called 
over  the  roll,  and  answered  to  his  own  name.  He 
then  moved  and  seconded  his  own  nomination,  put 
the  question  to  vote,  and  was  unanimously  re- 
turned. 

In  1816,  in  England  and  Wales,  218  members  of 
the  House  of  Commons  were  returned  by  the  influ- 
ence or  nomination  of  87  peers,  137  were  returned 
by  90  commoners,  and  16  by  the  Government, 
making  371  nominee  members.  Of  the  45  members 
for  Scotland,  31  were  returned  by  21  peers  and  the 
remainder  by  14  commoners.  Of  the  100  Irish 
members,  51  were  returned  by  36  peers  and  20  by 
19  commoners.  Out  of  the  658  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  487  were  returned  by  nomina- 
tion, and  171  only  were  representatives  of  inde- 
pendent constituencies. 

Seats  were  thus  held  in  both  Houses  by  heredi- 
tary right,  and  the  control  of  the  Peers  over  the 
constitution  and  proceedings  of  the  Commons  was 
direct  and  flagrant.  The  Duke  of  ISTorlblk  was 
represented  by  11  members,  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale 


224  AKISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

by  9,  the  Earl  of  Darlington  by  7,  the  Duke  of 
Rutland,  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham,  and  Lord 
Carrington  each  by  6  ;  and  the  right  of  the  patron 
to  control  the  votes  and  the  political  conduct  of  his 
members  was  unquestioned. 

It  was  natural  that  under  such  circumstances 
seats  should  be  sold  as  openly  as  estates.  Nine 
thousand  pounds  were  paid  for  the  representation 
of  one  borough  to  its  owner,  and  from  £2,500  to 
£5,000  was  an  ordinary  price.  From  the  King 
down,  all  were  engaged  in  the  shameless  traffic. 
The  sale  of  seats  was  first  restricted  in  1809,  but  it 
continued  by  private  arrangement  until  1832,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  him- 
self. 

The  aristocracy  that  created  and  enforced  this 
system  is  the  same  that  exists  to-day ;  shorn  of  its 
authority,  it  is  true,  curtailed  of  its  proportions,  but 
unchanged  in  its  instincts'  and  aspirations,  hanker- 
ing after  its  former  prerogatives,  fighting  for  every 
privilege,  clutching  after  every  fading  relic  of  power. 

The  various  reform  bills  have  lessened,  but  not 
abolished,  the  influence  of  the  Lords  over  the  House 
of  Commons.  The  control  of  the  popular  assembly 
may  be  slipping  from  their  grasp,  but  they  have  not 
yet  let  go  their  hold.  As  late  as  1838  all  but  pro- 
prietors in  land  were  excluded  from  seats  in  the 
lower  chamber,  and  not  until  1858  was  every 
property  qualification  abandoned.    There  is  still  no 


THE    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS.  225 

salary  allowed  to  members,  a  provision  intended  to 
restrict  admission  to  the  wealthier  sort.  Even  since 
the  extension  of  the  franchise,  the  members  elected 
from  the  working  class  can  be  counted  on  the 
fingers.  Sixty  of  the  "  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple" in  the  last  Parliament  were  sons  of  peers, 
more  than  half  were  of  the  aristocratic  caste,  and 
one-fourth  were  titled.  The  "popular  assembly" 
still  remains  in  part  one  of  the  possessions  and 
appurtenances  of  the  aristocracy. 

There  are  few  noblemen  to-day  who  are  unable  to 
secure  the  return  of  their  eldest  sons  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  By  many  constituencies  the  heir  is 
still  elected  as  a  matter  of  course.  Sometimes  two 
great  families  contest  the  seat  for  a  county  between 
them,  as  in  Yorkshire,  where  the  houses  of  Hare- 
wood  and  Fitzwilliam,  within  the  memory  of  men 
now  living,  expended  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
apiece  in  a  struggle  in  which  the  eldest  son  of  each 
was  standing  for  Parliament.  The  Pitzwilliams 
succeeded,  and,  until  1870,  no  member  of  either 
family  visited  the  other.  It  was  my  fortune  to  be 
present  when,  after  all  these  years,  a  reconciliation 
was  effected,  and  the  Harewoods  came  to  a  dinner 
with  the  Fitzwilliams. 

The  political  influence  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleugh 

was  so  great  that  in  1880  Mr.  Gladstone  thought  fit 

to  attack  it  in  the  Duke's  own  county,  where  the 

eldest  son,  the  Marquis  of  Dalkeith,  had  always,  as 

15 


226  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

a  matter  of  course,  been  returned.  Here  Mr.  Glad- 
stone proposed  himself  as  a  competitor.  It  was 
bearding  the  Douglas  in  his  hall.  The  struggle  was 
fierce,  and  few  more  significant  signs  of  the  times 
have  lately  been  observed  than  this  presentation  of 
himself  by  a  Liberal  leader  in  the  stronghold  of  a^ 
Tory  family.  That  he  should  have  succeeded  was 
more  portentous  still. 

These  eldest  sons  of  peers  and  their  younger 
brothers  and  cousins,  of  course,  turn  popular  repre- 
sentation into  a  mockery.  They  can  have  no 
sympathies  with  a  people  rousing  itself  from  the 
enthralment  of  centuries,  while  the  other  nominees 
of  lords  must  serve  their  masters  in  order  to  retain 
their  places.  Mr.  Disraeli  entered  Parliament  as 
a  Radical,  but  soon  found  it  more  profitable  to  play 
the  part  of  a  Tory.  The  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  the 
late  Prime  Minister,  the  most  arrant  aristocrat  and 
violent  partisan  of  his  order  in  the  kingdom,  the 
bitterest  English  enemy  of  democracy  alive,  was  for 
years  a  member  of  the  so-called  popular  chamber,  a 
"  representative  of  the  people ! "  and  he  has  hosts 
of  followers  there  to-day,  sons  of  peers,  heirs  to  duke- 
doms— even  peers  of  Ireland — all  "  commoners," 
supposed  to  balance  the  influence  of  the  lords. 

I  have  already  told  that  when  even  the  Liberals 
in  Parliament  were  in  want  of  a  leader,  they  turned, 
not  to  a  manufacturer,  like  Bright  or  Forster,  a  man 
of  the  people,  but  to  tlie  eldest  son  of  a  duke — the 


THE    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS,  227 

Marquis  of  Hartington.  But  the  aristocrats  wlio 
call  themselves  Liberals,  the  political  descendants 
of  the  Whigs,  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  he 
very  earnest  for  reform.  Some  are  simplj  design- 
ing men  who  strive  to  lead  the  party  which  they 
fear  openly  to  oppose,  and  hope  to  stem  the  tide  by 
seeming  to  swim  with  the  current.  Others,  like 
the  Girondins  of  France  in  the  first  Revolution,  un- 
doubtedly believe  that  moderate  reform  is  advisable, 
or  at  least  inevitable,  and  are  willing  to  contribute 
to  bring  it  about,  thinking  amelioration  better  than 
demolition,  and  alteration  preferable  to  extirpation. 
But  irreconcilable  differences  between  the  Liberals 
and  the  Radicals  are  constantly  becoming  apparent. 
Great  peers,  whose  families  have  been  Whig  since 
the  days  of  William  and  Mary,  are  found  of  late  on 
the  Conservative  side.  The  Earls  of  Fortescue  and 
Fitzwilliam  have  gone  clean  over.  The  Duke  of 
Argyll  is  on  the  road,  while  men  ennobled  by  the 
present  Prime  Minister  deserted  him  as  soon  as 
they  were  seated  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

A  few  sons  of  peers  are  liberal  at  heart,  in  spite 
of  their  position  and  surroundings,  and  if  they  had 
been  born  in  different  spheres,  might  have  held  dif- 
ferent politics.  Many  years  ago  I  talked  with  one 
of  these  who  was  then  the  heir  of  a  Tory  minister. 
I  had  lately  arrived  from  America,  where  I  had 
been  so  placed  as  to  see  from  the  inside  all  the 
wild  scramble  for  oflice  that  occurs  when  a  new 


228  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

President  comes  into  power.  I  made  some  comment 
on  this  strife,  comparing  it  with  the  condition  of 
things  in  England.  But  the  aristocrat  repHed: 
"  All  this  is  sure  eventually  to  happen  here. 
Whatever  you  are  we  shall  be."  He  did  not  seem 
to  say  it  regretfully,  and  went  on  to  speak  of  the 
way  in  which  a  man  is  fettered  by  circumstances. 
One  cannot  always  be  himself,  he  said,  nor  act  for 
himself.  Friends  and  position  control  him,  and 
whether  he  will  or  no,  he  is  swept  on  by  the  cur- 
rent in  which  he  was  bom.  I  often  thought  of  this 
conversation  afterward,  when  the  commoner  had 
become  a  peer  and  a  member  of  a  Tory  cabinet 
more  retroactive  in  its  policy  than  any  in  which  his 
father  ever  sat,  and  defended  measures  as  different 
as  possible  from  any  ever  suggested  in  America. 

The  younger  sons  sometimes  emancipate  them- 
selves more  completely.  It  is  more  natural  that 
they  should  be  liberal ;  interest  and  anticipation  do 
not  trammel  them  so  closely.  There  are  brothers 
of  earls  who  are  almost  radical,  especially  when  the 
incumbents  have  many  sons.  But  I  can  remember 
only  one  heir  to  a  peerage  whose  love  for  the  people 
overcame  the  instincts  of  his  order,  and  he  died 
before  his  fidelity  could  be  tested  by  possession. 

Thus  the  House  of  Commons  remains  to  a  great 
extent  under  aristocratic  influences.  It  is  impos- 
sible that  the  sons  and  heii's  of  high  noblemen  and 
great  landed  proprietors  should  earnestly  support 


THE    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS.  229 

measures  looking  to  the  overthrow  of  their  class, 
the  abolition  of  their  privileges,  and  the  eventual 
dissipation  or  confiscation  of  their  estates.  These 
will  always  be  found  openly  or  covertly  working  in 
favor  of  the  nobility,  whose  interests  are  now  inva- 
riably opposed  to  those  of  the  masses ;  while  in  any 
great  political  emergency  the  influence  of  the  peers 
is  brought  to  bear  with  prodigious  force  on  the  ple- 
beian members  of  the  Bouse  of  Commons.  The 
most  potent  engine  then  is  always  the  social  one. 
Invitations  to  great  houses  are  lavished  upon  irres- 
olute adversaries;  peeresses  leave  cards  on  the 
wives  of  timid  or  aspiring  members,  and  fashion 
opens  its  most  exclusive  doors  to  those  whose  votes 
are  still,  as  in  other  days,  for  sale.  There  have 
been  instances  of  men  w^ho  held  out  long  against 
every  temptation  of  place  or  power,  but  finally  suc- 
cumbed to  the  blandishments  of  Tory  duchesses. 
Society  is  conservative  in  London,  and  the  path  to 
Hatfield  House,  like  the  floor  of  another  place  not 
so  desirable  to  visit,  is  paved  with  Liberal  inten- 
tions and  Kadical  promises. 

Mr.  Gladstone  once  declared  that  the  love  of  an 
Englishman  for  freedom  is  hardly  stronger  than  his 
love  for  aristocracy,  and  Sir  William  Molesworth, 
one  of  the  most  astute  of  recent  political  philoso- 
phers, asserts  that  this  feeling  in  England  has  the 
force  of  a  religion.     But  the  god  is  a  fetich. 


XXIV. 
THE  LAND. 

The  landed  property  of  England  covers  72,000,000 
acres.  It  is  worth  ten  thousand  millions  of  dollars, 
and  yields  an  annual  rent,  independent  of  mines, 
of  three  hundred  and  thirty  millions.  One-fourth 
of  this  territory,  exclusive  of  that  held  by  the  own- 
ers of  less  than  an  acre,  is  in  the  hands  of  1,200 
proprietors,  and  a  second  fourth  is  owned  by  6,200 
others ;  so  that  half  of  the  entire  country  is  held  by 
7,400  individuals.  The  population  is  34,000,000. 
The  peers,  not  six  hundred  in  number,  own  more  than 
one-fifth  of  the  kingdom ;  they  possess  14,000,000 
acres  of  land,  worth  two  thousand  millions  of  dol- 
lars, with  an  annual  rental  of  $66,000,000. 

Xext  to  Belgium,  England  is  the  most  thickly 
populated  country  in  the  world,  but  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  has  one  estate  of  83,000  acres  and  an-' 
other  of  11,000  ;  the  Duke  of  Bedford  one  of  33,000; 
the  Duke  of  Portland  owns  53,000  acres,  the  Duke  of 
jN^orthumberland  181,000,  and  in  every  county  there 
are  properties  ranging  from  10,000  to  30,000  acres 
in  the  possession  of  the  lords.     Seven  persons  own 


THE    LAND.  231 

one-seventh  of  Buckinghamshire,  which  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  175,000  and  an  acreage  of  450,000. 
Cambridge  has  a  population  of  1-1:9,000,  and  five 
persons  own  one-ninth  of  the  land  and  receive  one- 
thirteenth  of  the  rental.  In  Cheshire  the  popula- 
tion is  561,000,  and  sixteen  persons  own  two-sev- 
enths of  the  land,  which  is  602,000  acres  in  extent. 
In  Ireland  the  situation  is  similar.  In  the  prov- 
ince of  Munster  eleven  persons  own  one-eleventh  of 
the  land.  In  Ulster,  a  noble  marquis,  the  grandson 
of  George  lY.'s  mistress,  owns  122,300  acres;  the 
natural  son  of  another  marquis,  who  was  probably 
the  worst  Englishman  that  ever  lived,  owns  58,000, 
and  still  another  marquis,  married  to  a  woman  of  the 
town  now  living,  owns  34,000.  In  Connaught  two 
persons  own  274,000  acres,  and  besides  these  Yis- 
count  Dillon  holds  83,000  and  the  Earl  of  Lucan 
60,000.  Lord  Fitzwilliam  has  an  estate  of  89,000 
acres,  the  Duke  of  Leinster  one  of  67,000,  Lord  Ken- 
mare  one  of  91,000  and  another  of  22,000,  Lord  Ban- 
try  one  of  69,000,  Lord  Landsdowne  one  of  91,000, 
another  of  13,000,  and  another  of  9,000;  Lord 
Downshire  one  of  26,000,  one  of  15,000,  and  another 
of  64,000 ;  Lord  Leitrim  three  of  54,000, 22,000,  and 
18,000  respectively.  The  Duke  of  Devonshire,  in 
addition  to  his  enormous  English  properties,  has  one 
Irish  estate  of  32,000  acres  and  another  of  27,000. 
His  eldest  son  is  the  Marquis  of  Hartington,  recently 
the  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  in  England,  but  his 


232  ARISTOCKACY  EST    ENGLAJTD. 

lordship  was  unable  to  follow  Mr.  Gladstone  in  his 
endeavors  to  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  Ireland. 
Like  the  young  man  in  Scripture,  he  went  away 
sorrowing,  "  for  he  had  great  possessions." 

Scotland,  however,  is  the  paradise  of  the  peers. 
The  county  of  Sutherland  contains  1,299,253  acres, 
of  which  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  owns  1,1Y6,343. 
The  population  of  the  county  is  24,317  souls.  Six 
other  potentates  hold  over  100,000  acres  among 
them,  leaving  exactly  5,295  acres  for  the  remain- 
ing 24,310  inhabitants.  There,  are,  however,  only 
85  of  these  with  more  than  an  acre  apiece. 

Among  the  other  great  proprietors  in  Scotland  are 
the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  who  owns  an  estate  of 
149,000  acres  in  her  own  right,  and  the  Earl  of 
Fife,  who  has  one  of  140,000,  another  of  72,000, 
and  another  of  40,000.  The  Duke  of  Kichmond 
has  one  of  155,000  and  another  of  69,000 ;  the  Earl 
of  Seafield  (the  head  of  the  Grants),  one  of  96,000, 
one  of  48,000,  and  one  of  16,000 ;  the  Earl  of  Bread- 
albane  owns  193,000  and  179,000  acres;  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton,  102,000  and  45,000;  the  Duke  of 
Buccleugh,  253,000,  104,000,  and  60,000.  The 
Duke  of  Argyll  is  comparatively  poor;  he  owns 
only  168,000  acres,  while  the  Queen's  estate  of  Bal- 
moral is  a  modest  little  property  of  25,000  acres.  In 
Inverness-shire  twenty  men  own  2,000,000  acres 
among  them,  and  in  Aberdeenshire  twenty-three 
"lords  and  gentlemen"  own  more  than  half  the 


THE   LAND.  233 

county,  though  the  population  is  2-14,000.  The 
greater  part  of  all  this  territory  is  devoted  to  the 
sports  of  the  aristocracy,  for  whom  Scotland  is  only 
one  great  playground. 

Three-fourths  of  these  noble  landlords  inherit 
their  estates  either  from  grasping  robbers  of  the 
Korman  type  or  Cromwellian  conquest,  or  from 
women  who  sold  their  beauty  and  their  virtue  to 
kings  or  panders,  or  from  politicians  of  the  stamp 
of  Aaron  Burr  or  Alderman  Jaelme.  Walpole  and 
Pitt  were  the  most  lavish  distributors  of  coronets 
England  ever  had,  and  one  of  these  notoriously 
bought  with  money  and  titles  the  very  Irish  Union 
which  is  certain  soon  to  be  dissolved,  while  the 
other  was  the  author  of  the  famous  maxim  in  Eng- 
lish politics,  "  Every  man  has  his  price." 

The  great  landowners  themselves  seldom  culti- 
vate more  than  a  little  piece  of  soil,  sufficient  for 
the  requirements  of  a  single  establishment.  The 
arable  and  pasture  land  of  the  kingdom  is  let  out  to 
1,160,000  tenant  fanners,  TO  per  cent,  of  whom  hold 
less  than  50  acres  each,  12  per  cent,  between  50  and 
100  acres,  and  only  18  per  cent,  more  than  100 
acres  apiece.  In  all  the  kingdom  only  600  farmsf 
exceed  1,000  acres  in  extent.  Many  of  the  farmers 
are  little  better  off  than  their  own  laborers,  but  in  the 
aggregate  they  employ  a  capital  of  $2,000,000,000. 
With  the  laborers  they  constitute  one-tenth  of  the 
working  population  of  the  country. 


234  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

The  laborers  have  no  capital  but  the  furniture  of 
their  dwellings,  unless  the  strength  of  their  bodies 
and  the  hard  experience  of  toil  may  be  considered 
capital.  Their  wages  are  insufficient  to  maintain 
them,  and  the  consequence  is  there  are  a  million  of 
paupers  to  be  supported  by  the  State.  They  have, 
of  course,  no  independence,  and  are  in  reality  serfs 
of  the  soil.  They  rarely  leave  the  parish  in  which 
they  were  born ;  until  recently,  if  they  did  so  they 
forfeited  the  right  to  relief  when  destitute,  or  to  the 
almshouse,  which  every  peasant  looks  to  as  thfe  end 
of  his  laborious  life.  They  never  save ;  they  have 
insufficient  food ;  in  many  parts  of  the  country  their 
stature  is  dwarfisli,  their  gait  slow  and  sluggish,  like 
their  minds.  They  have  no  education ;  their  only 
pleasure  is  drink.  Above  all,  they  have  no  possi- 
bility of  bettering  themselves.  But  it  is  upon  their 
poverty,  degradation,  and  misery  that  the  grandeur 
and  luxury  of  the  aristocracy  are  founded.  One  is 
the  direct  cause  of  the  other. 

In  1880  the  average  wages  of  the  agricultural 
laborer,  the  man  who  worked  the  two  thousand 
million  acres  of  land  and  produced  the  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty  millions  of  revenue,  was  fourteen 
English  shillings  a  week,  or  about  fifty  cents  a  day. 
Out  of  this  he  had  to  pay 'his  rent  to  the  earl  or  the 
duke,  which  was  two  English  shillings,  or  fifty 
cents,  a  week.  Bread  was  three  cents  a  pound, 
meat  eighteen  cents,  and  butter  one  shilling  and 


THE   LAND.  235 

eight  pence,  about  forty  cents.  So  liis  iiftj  cents  a 
day  would  not  buy  many  pounds  of  meat  or  butter, 
if  the  family  was  large.  For  there  were  shoes  to  be 
got  for  all,  clothes,  fuel,  lights,  as  well  as  food,  all 
out  of  fourteen  shillings  a  week,  and  in  sight  of  the 
castle  of  my  lord,  who  was  rich  solely  because  the 
hind  was  poor. 

The  ordinary  cottage  of  the  English  laborer  has 
but  two  rooms,  and  when  the  married  man  has  a 
family  of  nearly  or  quite  grown  sons  and  daughters 
they  often  all  sleep  in  one  room,  and  not  unfre- 
quenT;ly  in  the  same  bed.  The  great  majority  of 
cottages  are  wretchedly  built,  often  on  very  un- 
healthy sites,  miserably  small,  very  low,  badly 
drained,  and  they  scarcely  ever  have  a  cellar  or  a 
space  under  the  roof  above  the  room  on  the  lower 
floor.  They  are  "fit  abodes  for  a  peasantry  pauper- 
ized and  demoralized  by  the  utter  helplessness  of 
their  condition.  * 

The  first  summer  that  I  spent  in  England  I 
visited  two  splendid  mansions  in  the  south  whose 
owners  were  earls.  One  of  these  showed  me  a  hall 
in  his  castle  that  was  restored  in  the  time  of  Henry 
v.,  and  the  other  was  of  the  family  of  that  Count 
Robert  of  Paris  who  sat  for  an  hour  on  the  throne  of 
Constantinople.  Both  of  these  nol)ies  were  person- 
ally estimable,  and  even  religious  men,  who  un- 
doubtedly supposed  they  were  doing  their  duty  in 
that  state  of  life  to  which  it  had  pleased  God  to  call 


236  ARISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

them.  I  knew  of  exalted  and  beautiful  traits  in  the 
character  of  each  that  would  extort  the  admiration 
of  honorable  men  everywhere. 

While  I  was  visiting  them,  I  attended  the  meet- 
ings of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  held  in  a  neighboring  town.  Large 
parties  went  in  each  day  from  the  palatial  and 
luxurious  abodes  of  the  nobility,  to  be  present  at 
the  sessions,  at  which  an  earl  presided  ;  and  nearly 
a  score  of  high-placed  proprietors  attended  what 
interested  me  most  of  all,  the  sittings  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Political  and  Social  Economy.  The  mag- 
nates were  engaged  for  several  days  discussing  the 
condition  of  the  English  poor.  I  heard  viscounts 
and  baronets  and  bishops  and  earls  lamenting  the 
misery  and  depravity,  the  poverty  and  low  wages 
of  the  wretches  who  lived  on  their  estates.  I  heard 
them  admit  that  in  their  part  of  the  country  a 
shilling  a  day  was  often  the  wages  of  a  strong, 
healthy  man,  who  had  a  wife  and  six  or  seven  chil- 
dren to  support,  out  of  which,  I  heard  them  say,  at 
least  a  shilling  a  week  was  deducted  for  rent.  I 
heard  that  whole  families  occupied  a  single  bed- 
room. I  heard  of  the  ignorance  and  stolidity,  often 
the  brutality,  of  the  English  peasants,  of  whom 
there  are  several  millions. 

Not  all  are  in  this  extreme  condition,  but  all  are 
degraded  and  demoralized  ;  and  I  have  heard  Eng- 
lish noblemen  declare  that,  as  a  class,  they  are  more 


/  THE    LAND.  237 

brutish — that  was  the  word — than  any  other  peas- 
antry in  the  world.  The  worst  things  I  have  told 
are  neither  exceptional  nor  rare.  I  went  back  to 
the  stately  halls,  where  forty  or  fifty  guests  were 
feasted  each  night  off  of  silver,  and  where  the  very 
servants  were  ten  times  better  fed  and  clad  and 
housed  than  the  best  off  of  the  lower  class  outside ; 
where  the  poor  crowded  around  the  charitable 
kitchen  gate,  literally  glad  to  feed  on  the  crumbs 
that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table ;  and  I  wondered 
what  would  be  the  end — and  how  long  it  would  be 
deferred — of  the  aristocracy  of  England. 


XXV. 
ENTAIL. 

The  land  of  England  does  not  belong  to  tlie  land- 
lords. An  enormous  proportion  of  it  is  entailed, 
and  the  so-called  proprietors  are  in  reality  only  ten- 
ants for  life,  without  the  power  of  selling,  or  of  de- 
termining who  their  successors  or  heirs  shall  be. 
Many  estates  are  also  burdened  with  settlements, 
jointures  to  widows,  or  sometimes  provisions  for 
younger  children ;  or  mortgaged  for  the  debts  of 
long-deceased  owners.  I  recollect  an  earl  who  had 
to  pay  out  of  his  nominal  income  the  jointures  of 
three  countesses,  the  widows  of  his  predecessors. 
The  reigning  countess  told  me  she  could  not  afford 
a  house  in  London  till  the  last  of  these  ladies  died  ; 
but  they  were  long-lived,  and  kept  up  their  estab- 
lishments near  Grosvenor  Square  while  she  was 
forced  to  remain  in  the  country,  or  live  for  only  a 
month  or  two  of  the  season  at  an  hotel  in  town. 

I  knew  another  nobleman,  whose  father  and 
uncle  had  so  encumbered  a  splendid  property  that 
proceedings  were  taken  to  satisfy  the  creditors.  It 
was  impossible  to  sell,  or  to  disturb  the  rights  of 


ENTAIL.  239 

the  heir ;  so  the  estates  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
trustees,  who  managed  them  for  the  benefit  of  all 
concerned.  A  certain  allowance  was  made  to  the 
nominal  possessor  and  his  eldest  son,  who  made  out 
the  best  they  could  with  their  stipend ;  but  on  the 
death  of  the  earl  the  new  man  came  unencumbered 
into  possession  of  90,000  pounds  a  year,  with  no 
obligation  to  pay  the  debts  of  his  father.  As 
the  creditors  were  aware  of  this  contingency  when 
they  advanced  the  money,  they  only  suffered  a 
loss  the  possibility  of  which  they  had  voluntarily 
incurred. 

Entail  is  a  deliberate  invention  of  the  aristocracy 
to  preserve  the  land  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  at  the 
expense  not  only  of  the  other  members  of  great  fam- 
ilies, but  of  the  community  at  large  and  its  individ- 
ual members.  If  it  is  impossible  to  sell,  it  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  buy,  and  rich  men  desirous  of 
becoming  "landed  gentry"  have  often  been  for 
years  unable  to  enter  the  territorial  aristocracy. 
The  importance  of  those  who  are  called  "  the  great " 
in  England  depends  in  a  large  degree  on  the  pos- 
session of  land.  The  wealthiest  tradesmen,  mer- 
chants, bankers,  brewers,  find  their  consequence 
incomplete  until  they  can  purchase  estates  and 
rank  with  the  county  families.  To  keep  these  new 
people  out  is  one  of  the  objects  of  the  system  of 
entail. 

Nevertheless,  of  late  years,  they  contrive  to  find 


240  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

their  way  within  the  exalted  company ;  and  then 
immediately  proceed  to  entail  their  newly  acquired 
possessions.  I  knew  a  rich  Jewish  gentleman,  the 
son  of  a  banker,  whose  father  left  half  a  million 
pounds  to  be  invested  in  the  purchase  of  an  estate, 
and  half  a  million  more  to  build  a  house.  The  son 
complied  religiously  with  his  father's  injunction, 
and  bought  a  property  that  had  been  in  a  single 
family  seven  hundred  years ;  he  put  one  of  the  cost- 
liest mansions  in  England  on  the  site  of  the  Cru- 
sader's manor-house;  and  the  entail  of  these  modern 
Jewish  gentry  was  so  strict  that  napkins  and  towels 
had  to  be  replaced,  whenever  worn  out,  by  the 
tenant  for  life,  that  the  establishment  might  descend 
to  the  successor  in  undiminished  splendor.  But 
the  son  died  childless,  and  the  estate  went  to  his 
nephew,  who  had  seven  daughters  and  no  male  heir. 
The  line  so  carefully  provided  for  is  likely  to  be- 
come extinct,  and  the  property  scattered  among 
females  who  will  carry  it  into  other  families. 

Half  a  million  pounds,  however,  were  left  to  a 
married  sister,  who  herself  instantly  "  made  an  eld- 
est son,"  as  the  English  say ;  that  is,  she  entailed 
the  bulk  of  her  fortune  on  one  child,  although  she 
had  four.  But  the  irony  of  fate  pursued  the  family, 
and  this  eldest  son  died  unmarried  before  his  mother. 
A  younger  and  delicate  boy  is  the  only  male  rep- 
resentative in  the  coming  generation,  and  he  cannot 
succeed  to  the  name,  beino;  in  the  female  line. 


ENTAIL.  241 

In  spite  of  patrician  precautions,  the  vicissitudes 
of  fortune  continue.  I  was  once  taken  to  a  stately 
mansion  in  Cheshire,  whose  ancient  timbers  pro- 
claimed the  gentility  of  the  master,  for  they  had 
been  laid  in  the  times  of  the  Henrys.  The  story 
that  was  told  me  in  this  venerable  structure  was 
piteous  to  aristocratic  ears ;  but  let  democrats  deter- 
mine. The  present  proprietor  had  no  sons  by  his 
first  wife,  and  at  her  death  he  settled  the  property 
absolutely  on  two  infant  daughters,  intending  sol- 
emnly never  to  marry  again.  But,  alas  for  human 
constancy !  long  before  the  daughters  were  grown 
he  had  another  wife  and  a  son.  But  the  entail  was 
irrevocable.  One  daughter  was  dead  and  the  sister 
inherited  all,  and  the  anomaly,  hateful  in  English 
eyes,  is  pi-esented,  of  a  son  bearing  an  ancient  and 
honorable  name — ^but  penniless,  while  his  sister  in- 
herits the  family  seat,  the  heirlooms,  and  the  jewels. 
The  son  absolutely  goes  out  into  the  world  like  an 
adventurer  to  earn  his  bread ;  and  all  good  aristo- 
crats lament  the  hardship  which  gives  to  a  daughter 
the  property  that  in  every  other  case  would  descend 
to  the  son,  and  leaves  to  him  that  poverty  which, 
according  to  English  rule,  should  be  reserved  for 
daughters  alone. 

The  famous  Holland  House  was  entailed  as  long 
as  possible,  but  at  last  there  was  no  one  to  entail  it 
to.     The  last  Lord  Holland  left  no  son,  nor  leo-iti- 

mate  daughter,  not  even  a  collateral  heir  to  his  title 
16 


242  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

or  estates,  and  the  grand  old  mansion  where  Addi- 
son wrote  and  Charles  James  Fox  was  a  brother's 
guest,  where  the  symposia  were  held  that  Macaulaj 
described,  and  where,  even  in  the  present  decade, 
the  royalty  and  aristocracy  of  England  are  annually 
received  at  the  most  brilliant  out-door  parties  of  the 
century — Holland  House  is  the  absolute  property 
of  Lady  Holland,  herself  no  born  owner  of  the 
name,  no  daughter  of  the  family,  but  a  stranger 
whose  title  comes  by  marriage.  This  peeress  is 
poor  for  a  noblewoman,  and  has  bargained  with  a 
distant  and  wealthy  connection  of  the  family,  the 
Earl  of  Ilchester,  a  Fox-Strangways  by  name — to 
leave  him  Holland  House  in  her  will,  on  condition 
that  he  pays  her  during  her  life  £7,000  a  year.  By 
this  ignoble  huckstering  in  an  illustrious  family,  the 
time-honored  structure  is  still  preserved  to  the 
blood  and  name  of  those  who  made  it  historical — 
a  shabby  substitute  for  entail. 

The  entail  and  the  settlements  reduce  the  nominal 
income  of  a  tenant  for  life,  sometimes  by  half.  They 
affect  not  only  his  power  of  disposing  of  the  prop- 
erty, but  his  ability  to  improve  it ;  for  this  tying  up 
of  land  often  prevents  the  so-called  owner  from 
raising  money  to  drain,  or  plant,  or  build.  There 
are  proprietors  who  cannot  cut  down  a  tree  without 
the  consent  of  the  heir.  Many  are  entirely  unable 
to  develop  the  resources  of  their  land,  to  improve 
the  cottages  of  their  peasants,  to  stock  the  farms  for 


ENTAIL.  243 

the  tenantry — solely  because  of  the  entail.  Thou- 
sands of  landlords  would  be  enriched  to-day  if  their 
estates  could  be  broken  up  and  sold.  Their  debts 
could  be  paid,  the  property  vastly  improved,  the 
whole  country  benefited ;  but  all  this  is  prohibited 
in  order  to  continue  the  existence  of  a  privileged 
class  who  cannot,  if  they  would,  get  rid  of  their 
property,  even  to  increase  their  fortunes.  Entail  is 
the  incubus  that  rests  on  all — owner,  fanner,  and 
laborer. 

The  importance  of  keeping  consequence  and 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  is  so  much  considered 
that  even  if  an  estate  is  not  entailed  by  will  or  set- 
tlement, the  law  steps  in  to  enforce  the  sacred  prin- 
ciple of  primogeniture,  and  whenever  a  man  dies 
without  a  will  the  eldest  son  inherits  all  the  land. 
More  even  than  this :  in  order  to  limit  the  ownership 
of  the  soil  every  impediment  is  placed  by  the  State 
in  the  way  of  transfer.  The  formalities  on  the  sale 
of  land  are  numerous  and  intricate  and  obligatory, 
and  purposely  contrived  to  complicate  and  obstruct 
a  change  of  owners.  The  legal  fees  are  enormous, 
and  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to  do  in  all 
England  is  to  purchase  landed  property.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  even  if  poor  people  accumulate 
enough  for  the  purchase  money,  they  are  frightened 
from  the  attempt  by  the  charges  and  difficulties ;  and 
the  possession  of  land  becomes  one  of  the  greatest 
of  luxuries.     Then  too  the  income  is  small;  two 


244  ABISTOCBACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

per  cent,  is  a  liigh  rate  of  interest  on  land,  and 
only  the  rich  can  afford  to  invest  their  money  in 
this  way. 

The  tendency,  therefore,  is  steadily  to  the  disap- 
pearance of  small  estates  and  the  accretion  of  larger 
ones.  The  poor  man's  acre  is  swallowed  up  in  his 
rich  neighbor's  domain.  The  class  of  yeomen,  or 
small  farmers  owning  their  own  properties,  has  al- 
most vanished.  The  tenant  farmers  have  replaced 
them,  holding  their  acres  by  a  yearly  lease  depend- 
ent on  the  good  will  of  the  master  for  a  renewal. 
This  is  the  tenure  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  farm 
land  of  England  to-day. 

And  this  system  is  not  only  the  result  of  circum- 
stances, the  consequence  of  past  events  now  uncon- 
trollable or  irreversible ;  it  is  the  object  and  aim  of 
present  legislation  and  politics.  Some  years  ago 
the  condition  of  the  landlords  in  consequence  of  en- 
tail was  so  disastrous,  that  the  State  was  compelled 
to  intervene,  but  instead  of  breaking  up  the  entail 
or  facilitating  in  any  way  a  change  of  ownership  or 
the  sale  of  land,  the  expedient  resorted  to  was  of 
quite  another  sort.  The  Government  lent  to  the 
landlords,  making  the  debt  a  charge  on  the  land.  A 
Parliament,  composed  to  a  large  extent  of  landlords, 
voted  to  lend  themselves  money  at  easy  rates  in 
order  to  improve  their  lands,  but  refused  to  do  any- 
thing to  render  the  sale  easy,  or  in  most  cases  pos- 
sible. 


ENTAIL.  245 

The  State — or  the  class  that  has  liitherto  con- 
trolled the  State — is  determined  to  maintain  the 
aristocracy ;  and  nothing  renders  the  aristocracy  so 
secnre  as  the  system  of  entail.  Abolish  this,  and 
the  whole  edifice  tumbles.  It  is  the  underpinning 
and  the  foundation  stone. 


XXVI. 
SPORT. 

One-third  of  the  soil  of  England  is  devoted  to 
the  pleasures  of  the  aristocracy,  the  principal  of 
which  is  sport.  The  story  is  old  of  the  foreigner 
who  stayed  at  a  country-honse  where  every  morn- 
ing the  men  of  the  party  exclaimed :  "  'Tis  a  fine 
day!  Let's  go  out  and  kill  something."  The 
picture  is  not  exaggerated.  Many  Englishmen  of 
fortune  seem  to  suppose  they  are  sent  into  this 
world  to  hunt  foxes  and  shoot  grouse  and  deer. 
This  is  the  object  of  their  existence  and  the  occupa- 
tion of  their  lives.  Among  the  aristocracy  the  man 
who  does  not  shoot  is  an  anomaly,  almost  a  mon- 
strosity. There  must  be  something  wrong  about 
him. 

All  the  arrangements  of  the  upper  classes — politi- 
cal or  social,  in  town  or  country — are  made  with 
reference  to  sport.  The  fashionable  season  and  the 
parliamentary  season  are  determined  by  the  game 
laws;  country-house  parties  in  winter  and  tours  to 
the  Continent  in  summer  depend  upon  what  are 
called  "close  times."     Courtships   are  carried  on, 


SPORT.  247 

marriages  are  postponed,  to  suit  the  convenience  of 
sportsmen.  Great  political  revolutions  are  precipi- 
tated or  deferred,  questions  of  peace  or  war  are 
taken  up  or  let  alone  because  ministers  want  to 
go  to  Scotland,  because  grouse-shooting  begins  in 
August,  and  fox-hunting  is  not  over  till  February. 
The  gravest  crises  in  the  history  of  a  government 
are  neglected  when  legislators  are  anxious  to  be  off 
to  the  moors,  and  the  sessions  of  Parliament  can- 
not be  held  till  the  frost  is  out  of  the  ground  and 
the  foxes  begin  to  breed. 

Estates  are  purchased  and  houses  built  because  of 
the  proximity  of  the  covers ;  properties  are  valuable 
or  insignificant  according  to  the  amount  of  ganie. 
Scores  of  fortunes  are  lost  through  the  excessive 
love  of  sport.  Every  circumstance  and  event  of 
English  high-life  revolves  around  this  pivot,  and  the 
results  are  as  visible  as  those  of  religion.  Sport 
enters  into  politics,  it  colors  literature,  it  controls 
society.  It  affects  dress,  manners,  etiquettes,  and 
entertainments,  the  relations  of  master  and  ser- 
vant, man  and  wife,  father  and  son ;  the  char- 
acteristics of  whole  classes  in  the  State.  It  is  one 
of  the  principal  causes  and  results  of  aristocracy 
to-day. 

On  the  12th  of  August  the  sportsman's  year 
begins.  Grouse-shooting  dissolves  Parliament,  and 
all  who  have  moors,  or  invitations  to  them,  make 
haste  to  the  north.     There  is  some  good  shooting 


248  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

in  the  south,  but  the  best  grouse-moors  are  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Parties  of  twelve  or  twenty  are 
common,  but  the  genuine  sportsmen  often  go  oif  in 
smaller  numbers.  In  Scotland  there  are  hundreds 
of  small  shootings  let  for  the  season  at  prices  vary- 
ing from  forty  pounds  to  four  thousand,  according 
to  the  extent  and  quality  of  the  game ;  but  the 
great  proprietors  of  course  reserve  the  best  for  them- 
selves. On  many  estates  there  are  small  shooting- 
boxes,  or  still  simpler  cabins  called  shielings,  plainly 
furnished,  where  half  a  dozen  men  can  go  without 
ladies,  and  devote  a  few  days  or  weeks  to  their 
favorite  pastime. 

More  often,  however,  society  is  combined  with 
sport.  At  a  great  house  the  party  is  usually  large. 
The  men  sally  out  each  morning  "  to  kill  some- 
thing," and  sometimes  the  ladies  accompany  them. 
Of  late  years  a  few  of  these  are  shooters  themselves. 
This  is,  of  course,  when  the  game  is  driven  to  the 
guns ;  at  such  times  the  bags  made  are  enormous, 
hundreds  of  birds  often  falling  to  a  single  sports- 
man. The  labor  is  less,  and  the  glory,  but  the 
boasting  is  prodigious. 

The  shootei's  go  out  soon  after  breakfast — by  ten 
o'clock  always,  and  earlier  when  they  are  very 
much  in  earnest.  The  dresses  are  rough,  necessa- 
rily ;  the  boots  heavy-soled,  for  tramping  over  the 
moors ;  the  knickerbockers  coarse,  and  in  Scotland 
many  wear  the  kilt.     Lunch  is  taken  on  the  moors, 


SPORT.  249 

and  by  two  o'clock  it  is  very  acceptable.  Some- 
times a  cart  comes  out  from  the  house  with  a  hot 
lunch,  and  the  ladies  accompany  it  on  ponies  or  in 
little  carnages  ;  but  if  the  game  is  far  from  the  road 
the  gillies  carry  cold  meat  and  claret  in  hampers. 
Whiskey  each  man  takes  for  himself  The  game- 
keepers and  gillies  and  beaters  make  quite  a  pro- 
cession, with  the  extra  guns  and  the  game-bags. 
They  load  for  the  gentry,  and  sometimes  bring 
in  the  birds,  and  beat,  and  drive,  and  take  as 
keen  an  interest  in  the  sport  as  their  masters,  or 
the  dogs,  which  also  form  an  important  part  of 
the  company.  The  fresh  au-,  the  mountain  mist, 
the  purple  heather,  the  glimpses  of  scenery,  the 
exhilaration  of  the  exercise,  all  make  the  pastime 
more  than  fascinating,  even  for  those  who  have 
less  than  an  Englishman's  passion  for  "killing 
things." 

In  Scotland  deer-stalking  is  another  favorite  form 
of  the  amusement.  It  is  much  more  laborious,  the 
sportsmen  must  walk  farther,  must  lie  on  the  hill- 
side often  for  hours,  must  watch  more  warily,  and 
shoot  perhaps  more  skilfully,  but  the  glory  of 
bringing  home  a  stag  is  great  enough  to  compen- 
sate. The  deer-forests,  as  they  are  called,  contain 
no  trees;  they  are  simply  great  stretches  of  broken 
land,  i^robably  once  wooded,  but  now  bare  and 
bleak  for  miles  and  miles ;  with  little  lochs  scat- 
tered among  the  hills,  their  sloping  banks  covered 


250  ARISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

with  masses  of  bracken,  the  haunt  and  the  browse 
of  the  red  deer.  These  vast  expanses  devoted  to 
stalking  make  up  a  large  part  of  the  estates  of  the 
Scotch  nobility.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres 
are  included  in  the  deer-forests  of  some  half  a  dozen 
dukes  and  earls. 

A  party  of  stalkers  returning  over  the  hills  after 
a  long  day's  sport,  and  standing  out  against  tlie  red 
evening  sky,  makes  a  picture  that  the  stranger  is 
sure  to  remember.  Most  of  them  are  in  Highland 
dress,  with  plaids  and  sporrans,  feathers  in  their 
bonnets  and  daggers  in  their  hose ;  their  legs  are 
bare,  and  their  guns  are  at  their  shoulders.  The 
stag  is  slung  over  a  pony  in  the  middle  of  the 
group,  his  antlers  attesting  his  age.  They  shout  and 
wave  their  bonnets  and  plaids  as  they  approach, 
and  those  who  have  remained  at  home  are  sure  to 
go  out  to  meet  them  at  the  gate,  to  listen  to  the 
story  of  the  day's  exploits,  to  count  the  branches 
on  the  antlers,  and  accompany  the  party  to  the 
larder  or  the  butchery,  where  the  stag  is  weighed 
and  divided.  At  night  the  man  who  has  shot 
a  stag  is  entitled  to  wear  a  red  waistcoat  at 
dinner. 

A  bath  and  a  cup  of  tea  refresh  the  jaded  sports- 
man before  the  formal  evening  that  follows.  In 
Scotland,  in  the  shooting  season,  dinner  is  often  as 
late  as  nine,  or  even  half-past  nine  ;  and  in  the  long 
northern  twilight  candles  are  seldom  needed  before 


SPORT.  251 

you  sit  down.  The  ti-ansformation  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  company  when  lights  are  brought  in  is 
sometimes  startling.  The  rough  garb  of  the  sports- 
man has  been  exchanged  for  the  habiliments  of  civ- 
ilization, and  the  women  are  resplendent  in  jewels 
and  lace.  They  take  their  finest  diamonds  to  the 
wilds,  and  there  is  a  peculiar  fascination  about  the 
splendor  and  luxury  of  an  aristocratic  dinner,  after 
the  hardships  and  excitement  of  the  forest  and  the 
moor. 

The  anglers  have  had  more  quiet  pleasures,  but 
they  too  boast  at  night  of  their  successes,  and  the 
table  groans  under  the  results  of  the  achievements 
of  the  day. 

Partridge-shooting  begins  on  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, and  is  less  arduous  than  grouse-shooting,  and 
more  of  an  English  than  a  Scottish  sport.  Pheas- 
ants are  not  killed  till  October  1.  This  amuse- 
ment also  is  principally  a  southern  one,  but  every 
county  in  England  has  its  pheasant  preserves.  The 
battues  are  enormous,  and  the  covers  like  chicken 
yards.  Game-keepers,  indeed,  are  little  more  than 
stock-farmers,  so  far  as  pheasants  are  concerned ; 
and  many  of 'the  earnest  shooters  despise  this  phase 
of  sport.  The  English  themselves  never  call  it 
"  hunting ; "  they  speak  only  of  "  shooting  "  pheas- 
ants. I  should  say  butchering ;  for  the  pheasants 
are  sold. 

This  is  a  feature  of  English  sport  that  I  never 


252  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

ceased  to  wonder  at.  These  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men with  their  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  and 
their  hundreds  of  thousands  of  income,  their  estates 
and  castles  and  retainers,  their  crowds  of  aristo- 
cratic guests — nearly  all  sell  their  game.  ITow  and 
then  they  send  a  friend  a  brace  of  birds  or  a  haunch 
of  venison,  but  the  game  market  is  stocked  by  the 
nobility.  To  many  of  them  it  is  a  considerable 
source  of  revenue.  I  was  once  staying  with  a  well- 
known  nobleman  while  General  Grant  was  Presi- 
dent. I  had  been  out  with  the  shooters,  and 
thought  it  would  be  pleasant  to  send  the  President 
a  brace  of  pheasants  from  the  spot  where  they  had 
been  killed.  I  mentioned  to  one  of  the  guests  that 
I  meant  to  suggest  this  to  our  host,  but  he  cau- 
tioned me  not  to  commit  the  blunder.  The  matter 
was  discussed  by  the  entire  party,  and  every  man 
declared  it  would  be  improper  to  make  the  re- 
quest. The  game  was  marketable,  and  it  would  be 
indelicate  to  ask  for  it,  even  if  I  had  shot  the  birds. 
Nobody  seemed  to  think  this  strange.  The  high 
spirit  of  an  aristocrat  did  not  revolt  at  selling  the 
game  that  his  guests  had  killed ;  and  the  man  who 
was  lavish  of  his  courtesies  would  have  been 
amazed  had  I  proposed  he  should  pay  this  compli- 
ment to  the  head  of  a  foreign  State. 

The  devotion  to  sport  that  characterizes  the  Eng- 
lish aristocracy  is  not  elevating.  It  not  only  makes 
them  indifferent  to  more  serious  occupations,  taking 


SPOKT.  253 

the  hereditary  legislators  from  the  affairs  of  state  to 
which  they  are  supposed  to  apply  themselves,  and 
often  distracting  them  from  their  own  more  impor- 
tant interests ;  but  the  incessant  practice  is  certainly 
brutalizing.  To  be  forever  planning  and  inflicting 
death  and  pain,  even  on  animals,  cannot  be  refining. 
The  English  nature  is  coarse  in  itself,  but  sport  ren- 
ders it  still  more  so.  They  say,  indeed,  that  they 
shoot  and  kill  and  torture  because  all  this  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  procure  food.  But  butchering  is 
also  necessary,  yet  gentlemen  do  not  select  the 
shambles  for  their  pastimes.  The  Frenchman's 
criticism  was  fair.  "  Let  us  go  and  kill  somethii>g," 
is  the  Englishman's  idea  of  pleasure ;  and  it  is  a 
coarse  one.  An  American  soldier  once  said  some- 
thing like  this  at  an  English  table  in  my  hearing, 
and  one  of  the  company  insinuated  that  the  senti- 
ment was  maudlin.  But  the  American,  who  had 
been  in  forty  battles,  replied :  "  Oh !  I  believe  in 
killing  nothing  but  men." 

Like  everything  else  in  England,  this  pleasure  is 
a  matter  of  privilege.  Game  is  strictly  preserved 
for  the  great.  The  unprivileged  man  may  not  carry 
a  gun.  Every  Englishman  loves  sport,  the  peasant 
as  well  as  the  peer,  but  poaching  is  a  criminal 
offence ;  and  the  poor  man  is  sent  for  two  months, 
six  months,  even  a  year,  to  gaol,  for  doing  what 
gives  the  rich  man  his  keenest  gratification.  Five 
thousand  committals  for  poaching  are  made  every 


254  ARISTOCEACT   IX    ENGLAND. 

year  in  England  alone.  The  landlord  is  the  magis- 
trate, and  decides  upon  the  punishment  after  con- 
victing of  the  crime.  In  this  country  of  privilege, 
there  is  property  even  in  the  air ;  and  the  peasant 
who  has  no  farm,  no  house,  and  no  hope  of  ever 
owning  either,  no  amusement,  often  no  meat,  may 
not  shoot  the  rabbit  that  roots  up  his  garden,  or  the 
wild  bird  that  flies  over  the  moor. 

Nothing  can  be  more  fascinating  for  those  who 
are  fond  of  the  pastime  than  the  methods  of  aristo- 
cratic athletic  pleasure ;  nothing  more  elaborate  and 
imposing  than  its  appliances  and  appurtenances. 
God's  uplands  and  valleys  themselves  are  the  play- 
ground of  the  nobility.  The  broad  domains,  the 
stretching  moors,  the  thick  coverts,  the  lofty  mount- 
ains, the  purple  heath-covered  hills,  rolling  and  bil- 
lowy, like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and,  like  them, 
extending  to  the  horizon,  are  all  reserved  unbroken 
and  undisturbed,  for  the  amusement  of  the  aristoc- 
racy ;  these  are  the  stage  on  which  the  great  disport 
themselves.  When  across  some  scene  of  stately  nat- 
ural grandeur  or  bewitching  cultivated  grace  there 
passes  a  company  of  the  masters  of  th6  soil,  issuing 
perhaps  from  a  great  castle  hoary  with  age  and 
famous  in  history,  witli  their  guests  and  retainers, 
their  horses  and  hounds,  and  guns  and  game,  bent 
on  exhilarating,  manly  pleasure ;  surrounded  with  all 
that  makes  life  splendid  and  gay — one  cannot  but 
admire  the  taste  and  luxury  and  magnificence  that 


SPORT.  255 

come  from   centuries  of  privilege  and  generations 
used  to  caste. 

But  at  the  same  moment  another  procession  of 
starving,  houseless  hinds,  a  million  in  number,  is 
marching  to  the  almshouse. 


XXVII. 
THE  ACCESSIONS. 

I  ONCE  made  a  bet  with  a  high-born  dame  that 
not  fifty  of  the  English  peerages  were  two  hundred 
years  old.  She  was  the  granddaughter  of  earls  on 
both  sides  of  the  house,  and  insisted  that  my  remark 
was  mere  republican  raillery.  So  we  agreed  to 
leave  the  decision  to  her  cousin,  a  vice-chamberlain, 
and  of  course  an  authority.  lie  pronounced  tliat  in 
one  sense  I  was  right.  If  we  considered  the  titles 
by  which  the  peers  are  now  known,  the  old  ones 
are  as  few  as  I  had  declared,  but  there  are  still  others 
in  existence  lost  in  the  promotions  to  w^hich  their 
wearers  have  later  attained.  As  I  had  bet  with  a 
lady  I  paid  without  a  protest,  and  she  rewarded  me 
with  an  invitation  to  Oakley  Park,  the  seat  of  Earl 
Bathurst,  which  Pope  celebrated  in  the  line : 

"Who  plants  like  Bathurst,  and  who  builds  like  Boyle." 

The  peerage  indeed  would  have  been  small  by  this 
time  but  for  the  accessions  which  it  constantly  re- 
ceives. There  were  seventeen  new  lords  created 
the  last  year  I  spent  in  England.     Politics  is  the 


THE   ACCESSIONS.  257 

principal  avenue  that  leads  to  the  Honse  of  Lords. 
But  though  the  Prime  Minister  makes  noblemen 
by  the  score,  only  one  premier  in  the  last  liundred 
years  has  given  himself  a  peerage  before  the  close 
of  his  career.  Lord  Beaconsfield  could  not  wait  so 
long,  and  seized  the  prize  in  advance.  He  also  con- 
ferred the  Order  of  the  Garter  on  himself  and  took 
the  office  of  Lord  Privy  Seal,  which  gave  him  pre- 
cedence over  all  but  five  people  in  the  kingdom,  of 
less  than  royal  degree.  Sir  Eobert  "Walpole  and 
Lord  John  Russell  both  took  their  promotion  when 
they  ceased  to  be  premiers.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the 
younger  Pitt,  and  Charles  James  Fox  remained 
commoners,  but  they  all  died  young  for  English 
statesmen ;  as  did  also  Canning.  The  widow  of 
Canning,  however,  was  made  a  viscountess.  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  on  the  contrary,  made  his  wife  a  peer- 
ess long  before  he  put  on  a  coronet  himself.  Like 
most  of  the  premiere,  he  felt  that  the  House  of 
Commons  was  his  proper  place,  but  the  glitter  of 
the  gew-gaw  was  too  much  for  him,  and  after  a 
while  he  laid  his  hand  upon  an  earldom.  The 
wonder  was  he  did  not  make  himself  a  duke,  for 
there  was  no  one  to  say  him  nay.  Doubtless  had 
he  remained  in  power,  he  would  have  mounted 
to  the  highest  step  in  the  ladder  of  the  peerage, 
and  donned  the  strawberry  leaves. 

The  demand  for  promotion  is  very  openly  made. 
A  political  adherent  who  thinks  his  services  entitle 
17 


258  ARISTOCKACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

liitn  to  the  reward  has  no  hesitancy  in  presenting 
his  claim.  The  late  Sir  Francis  Goldsmid  narrated 
to  me  in  detail  the  persistent  efforts  his  father  made 
for  this  sort  of  recognition.  Sir  Isaac  Goldsmid 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  Jewish  gentlemen 
in  the  kingdom ;  he  had  served,  not  only  his 
party,  but  the  country,  faithfully  and  liberally, 
and  advanced  large  sums  to  the  Government  in 
critical  emergencies.  He  was  extremely  anxious 
for  a  title,  but  a  peerage  was  out  of  the  question, 
and  he  had  a  long  struggle  before  Lord  Palmerston 
consented  to  make  him  a  baronet.  This  was  forty- 
five  years  ago,  and  not  until  last  year  was  a  Jew 
created  a  peer ;  the  head  of  the  Kothschilds  was 
then  elevated  to  the  House  of  Lords.  Long  before 
this  the  financial  importance  of  the  great  Hebrew 
family  had  secured  them  nobility  in  nearly  every 
other  European  state,  but  the  Rothschilds  were  not 
satisfied  till  their  wealth  had  bought  them  adrnission 
to  the  British  House  of  Lords. 

For  these  foreign  titles,  which  the  Continental 
courts  do  not  scruple  to  bestow  on  successful  bank- 
ers and  others  in  trade,  are  not  much  esteemed  in 
England.  They  confer  no  precedence  there,  and 
are  not  recognized  at  court.  The  bearers  must 
obtain  especial  license  from  Her  Majesty  to  use 
either  arms  or  title,  though  they  sometimes  put  the 
latter  on  their  cards  without  authority.  Not  long 
ago    there  were    two   of  these    gentlemen   living 


THE   ACCESSIONS.  259 

in  England,  well  known  and  respected — Baron 
Worms  and  Baron  Stern.  The  latter  was  made  a 
viscount  by  some  European  sovereign,  whereupon 
the  wits  remarked :  "  This  will  give  him  precedence 
of — Baron  Worms." 

Some  years  ago  I  congratulated  a  subordinate 
member  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  government  upon  being 
made  a  privy  councillor,  but  the  ambition  of  the 
placeman  was  far  from  appeased.  He  told  me  that 
his  eldest  son,  then  an  Eton  boy  of  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years,  had  said  to  him :  "  Papa,  if  they  offer 
you  a  peerage,  be  sure  not  to  refuse  it.  Remember 
me."  The  boy  and  his  father  had  evidently  set 
their  hearts  on  the  same  prize.  The  aspiring  com- 
moner has  since  become  a  peer,  so  that  the  son  is 
satisfied ;  and  the  father,  then  a  strong  Radical,  is 
now  a  Tory  of  the  Tories. 

In  1871  the  Queen  created  the  rich  and  charitable 
Miss  Burdett-Coutts  a  baroness  in  her  own  riirht :  a 
recognition  of  moral  excellence  never  made  before 
in  the  history  of  the  British  aristocracy.  But  even 
in  this  case  the  wealth  was  as  indispensable  as  the 
individual  worth.  Lady  Burdett-Coutts  might  have 
emulated  the  virtues  of  all  the  Saints  in  the 
Calendar,  but  if  poverty  had  been  on  the  list  of  her 
merits,  she  could  not  have  entered  the  English 
peerage.  Indeed,  had  Her  Majesty  foreseen  that 
celibacy  was  not  to  be  included,  the  wealthy  phi- 
lanthropist would  certainly  have  remained  a  com- 


260  ARI8T0CEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

moiier.  It  was  because  there  could  be  no  successor 
that  the  sovereign  was  pleased  to  dispense  her  favor. 
The  lady  married,  however,  at  the  mature  age  of 
sixtj-five,  and  the  Queen  was  indignant  at  this 
violation  of  the  implied  contract ;  although  it  was 
certain  the  baroness  would  never  transmit*  her 
honors  to  an  heir. 

Wealth  has  always  been  held  an  essential  qualifi- 
cation in  the  candidates  for  the  aristocracy,  and 
many  of  those  otherwise  fitted  for  the  promotion 
have  failed  of  it  because  of  the  lack  of  this  indis- 
pensable attribute.  The  great  soldiers  had  to  re- 
ceive pensions  and  sometimes  estates  with  their 
peerages,  to  enable  them  to  maintain  their  dig- 
nity ;  and  at  one  time  the  politicians  also  reckoned 
pelf  as  well  as  promotion  among  their  perquisites, 
but  of  late  years  the  public  •feeling  would  not 
have  sanctioned  such  a  disposition  of  the  public 
moneys. 

The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  is  the 
first  Commoner  in  the  Kingdom,  and  always  re- 
ceives a  peerage  when  he  resigns,  that  he  may  not 
step  back  into  the  ranks.  The  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Lords  is  the  Lord  Chancellor;  if  not 
already  a  peer  he  is  always  promoted  before  he 
ascends  the  woolsack,  and  remains  noble,  of  course, 
with  his  flimily  forever.  The  greatest  of  the  lawyers 
is  thus  always  a  peer ;  but  the  most  successful  of 
his  brethren  are  never  ennobled,  unless  they  have 


THE    ACCESSIONS.  261 

amassed  sufficient  fortunes  to  compete  with  in- 
herited splendor. 

Physicians  may  never  arrive  at  the  peerage.  The 
shir  of  the  older  days,  when  barbers  were  surgeons, 
remains ;  and  the  most  eminent  medical  men  who 
illustrate  the  English  name  to-day,  though  they 
save  the  lives  of  princes  and  lessen  the  sufferings 
of  humanity,  are  never  rewarded  with  more  than 
a  baronetcy.  The  English  doctors  take  their  pay 
with  every  visit,  and  the  saying  is  that  no  man  who 
has  held  out  his  hand  for  a  fee  can  ever  be  made  an 
English  peer.  Tet  many  of  the  nobility  have  held 
out  their  hands — for  bribes. 

The  great  brewers,  however,  nearly  all  attain  to 
the  aristocratic  degree.  Malt  seems  to  possess  a 
peculiar  patrician  quality,  though  no  man  of  letters 
or  purely  literary  genius,  except  Tennyson,  has  ever 
received  a  coronet.  The  blood  of  the  Basses  and 
Alsops  "and  Guinnesses  may  become  "blue,"  but 
that  of  Browning  and  Thackeray  and  Fronde  re- 
mains plebeian. 

After  politics  and  money,  marriage  is  the  key 
that  unlocks  the  august  portals  of  the  aristocracy 
with  greatest  ease.  The  nobility  may  marry  whom 
they  please,  and  their  wives  will  be  peeresses  ;  their 
(legitimate)  children  are  all  in  the  succession,  even 
if  born  of  dairy-maids.  Many  of  the  wives  of  the 
lords  are  from  the  middle  class.  A  rich  heiress  can 
buy  a  coronet  any  day.     There  are  marchionesses 


262  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

now  liviuo;  whose  fortunes  fresh  from  trade  saved 
the  ancient  estates  of  aristocracy  from  the  hammer ; 
while  ladies  with  the  odor  of  tobacco  about  their 
garments  have  penetrated  into  patrician  families 
and  shone  in  the  most  exclusive  spheres.  The  taint 
disappears  at  the  entrance.  They  leave  the  shop 
entirely  behind  when  once  they  are  initiated. 

I  knew  a  countess  who  dropped  her  H's,  yet  she 
visited  the  daughters  of  dukes.  I  discussed  her 
once  with  a  high-born  associate  of  her  later  years, 
who  pretended  to  beheve  she  was  American  in 
origin.  "  No,  no.  Lady  Charlotte,"  I  replied,  "  the 
H's  prove  her  nationality ;  " — and  Lady  Charlotte 
unwillingly  admitted  that  the  evidence  was  irrefu- 
table. 

Of  late  years,  American  beauties  and  fortunes 
have  often  found  their  way  into  the  aristocracy; 
and  the  Queen  can  count  among  her  nobler  subjects 
at  least  half  a  score  who  began  life  as  republicans. 

The  stage  has  furnished  peeresses  from  the  days 
when  Miss  Farren  became  Countess  of  Derby  down 
to  a  Countess  of  Essex  that  I  knew,  who  had  been 
a  public  singer,  and  whose  manners  were  as  courtly 
and  her  assemblies  as  crowded  as  those  of  the  De 
Yeres.  Miss  O'Neill,  the  tragedian,  became  Lady 
Becher,  and  was  living  until  lately,  charming  and 
respected.  The  Countess  Waldegrave  in  her  youth 
accompanied  her  father,  Braham,  the  tenor,  at  his 
concerts,  at  the  same  houses  which  were  afterwards 


THE    ACCESSIONS.  263 

proud  to  welcome  her  as  a  guest ;  and  there  is  a 
woman  of  title  and  fashion  in  London  to-daj,  whom 
a  famous  wit  assured  me  he  saw  enter  Brighton  in 
tights  and  on  a  camel.  Now  she  entertains  sover- 
eigns. Every  one  will  remember  the  ancestress  of 
the  St.  Albans  who  sold  oranges  in  the  pit  to 
Charles  II.,  and  her  vii-tue  afterward  to  the  same 
customer  at  a  higher  price. 

Beauty  has  always  won  the  favor  of  the  British 
peers.  The  eldest  son,  or  the  man  in  possession, 
can  afford  to  please  his  taste ;  and  doubtless  the 
handsome  looks  of  many  of  the  nobility  are  due  to 
the  beautiful  women  who  have  recruited  its  ranks 
so  largely.  The  illegitimate  children  of  sovereigns 
have  been  ennobled,  down  to  and  including  the  last 
reign,  and  in  the  present  day  young  peers  and  heirs 
have  sought  mates  in  half  a  score  of  instances  among 
those  whose  presence  sullies  any  society  they  enter. 

The  blue  blood  does  not  seem  to  curdle  at  the 
contact,  for  the  grandest  of  English  peers  welcome 
to  their  ancestral  homes  the  brewers  and  bankers,  the 
tailors  and  tobacconists,  who,  as  soon  as  they  become 
noble,  look  down  as  superciliously  on  plebeians  as 
any  descendant  of  peer  or  paramour.  A  stroke  of 
the  wand  of  Cinderella's  godmother  turned  vermin 
into  decorated  lackeys  fit  to  go  to  court ;  and  the 
flunkeys  did  not  forget  their  rat-hole  more  readily 
than  these  transformed  aristocrats  their  early  obscur- 
ity.   Blood  will  tell;  and  their  blood  is  noble — now. 


XXVIII. 
LITERATURE  AND  THE  LORDS. 

It  is  the  fasWon  to  say  that  in  these  days  tlie 
barriers  of  rank  are  broken  down,  that  Hterary  repu- 
tation is  a  social  passport,  and  genius  opens  all 
doors;  that  the  aristocracy  itself  has  entered  the 
lists  and  recognized  the  equality  of  poets  and 
philosophers  with  its  highest  members.  But  noth- 
ing can  be  more  fallacious  than  this  opinion.  The 
lords  open  their  doors  to  men  and  women  of  parts, 
it  is  true,  but  the  purpose  is  to  amuse  themselves, 
not  to  do  honor  to  literature.  In  old  times  they 
had  their  jesters  and  their  bards,  to  while  away  the 
time  or  to  chronicle  their  deeds.  Froissart  and  Ben 
Jonson  did  little  more,  in  their  eyes.  So  the  Queen 
still  keeps  a  poet  laureate  to  celebrate  the  births 
and  marriages  of  her  progeny,  and  duchesses  have 
authors  and  actors  at  their  parties  to  entertain  their 
guests,  as  they  have  music  and  ice-cream. 

The  geniuses  would  like  to  believe,  because  they 
are  sometimes  invited  to  dinner,  or  even  to  a 
country-house,  that  the  feeling  of  the  aristocracy  is 
changed ;  but  let  one  of  them  ask  to  marry  the 


LITEKATURE    AND   THE    LORDS.  265 

daughter  of  a  diike  and  he  will  discover  how  wide 
is  the  gulf  that  separates  them.  Let  him  presume 
in  any  way  too  far  upon  the  notice  that  he  thinks 
is  a  friendship,  and  he  will  be  dropped  with  as  little 
ceremon}'^  as  if  his  lordship  were  dismissing  a  foot- 
man. The  people  of  letters  are  admitted  or  invited 
to-day,  and  forgotten  or  ignored  to-morrow.  They 
may  be  in  society  for  a  while,  they  are  never  of  it ; 
and  if  they  no  longer  wait  in  the  ante-room  as 
Johnson  did  at  Chesterfield  House,  they  must  make 
themselves  either  serviceable  or  agreeable  if  they 
expect  to  stay  upstairs.  They  know  this  very  well, 
though  they  don't  always  tell  it,  and  the  more  dig- 
nified ones  keep  aloof  from  the  great  world.  Dick- 
ens 'was  invited  to  Windsor  to  play  in  private 
theatricals  before  the  Queen,  but  refused  to  go, 
because  he  could  not  be  received  as  a  gentleman. 
Others,  however,  are  content  to  follow  in  the  train 
where  their  wives  are  seldom  placed  at  all,  or  to  sit 
at  the  bottom  of  the  table,  as  really  now  as  in  the 
days  of  Temple  and  Swift,  below  the  salt. 

I  know  that  all  this  will  be  denied.  A  well-known 
wit,  himself  a  middle-class  man,  who  was  much  in- 
vited because  of  his  learned  gossip  and  his  talent  for 
repartee,  wrote  pages  in  the  Quarterly  Remew  to 
prove  that  a  man  who  has  attained  distinction  in 
any  walk  of  life  is  received  on  a  footing  of  equality 
by  the  aristocracy.  But  the  assertion  is  preposterous. 
Taine  and  Laugel,  the  two  acutest  critics  of  English 


266  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

life  in  later  years,  assert  the  contrary.  Gladstone 
and  Thackeray  constantly  proclaim  the  existence  of 
the  distinction  that  I  describe.  Laiigel  declares: 
"  For  the  middle-man,  for  the  peasant,  for  the  shop- 
keeper, even  for  the  Radical,  the  lord  is  not  a  man 
like  another."  Lord  Houghton,  the  most  liberal  of 
aristocrats,  wrote :  "  There  are  barriers  in  our  social 
life  which  no  individual  will  or  power  can  throw 
down.  You  cannot  bring  into  close  sympathetic 
communion  the  operative  poor  and  the  inoperative 
rich,  any  more  in  intellectual  than  in  physical  rela- 
tions." To  illustrate  this  he  describes  a  passage  be- 
tween Lady  Ashburton  and  Thackeray.  The  nov- 
elist had  been  much  invited  by  the  aristocrat,  but 
there  came  a  difference  between  them  and  a  discon- 
tinuance of  the  social  relations.  Houghton  says 
that  Thackeray  was  discourteous.  After  a  while, 
however,  the  peeress,  as  the  grander  personage, 
made  an  advance.  She  sent  the  literary  man  a 
card  to  dinner,  and  he  i*eplied  with  a  pictorial  ac- 
ceptance, representing  himself  on  his  knees  at  her 
ladyship's  feet,  while  she  was  heaping  coals  of  fire 
on  his  head  from  an  ornamented  brazier.  After 
this,  says  Lord  Houghton,  she  was  always  very  kind 
to  Thackeray  and  his  family. 

Mrs.  Carlyle  tells  of  a  journey  she  and  her  great 
husband  made  to  Scotland  in  the  train  of  this  same 
Lady  Ashburton,  who  took  them  along  indeed,  but 
in  a  separate  compartment,  as  she  would  her  lackey 


LITERATUKE   AND   THE   LORDS.  267 

or  her  lap-dog.  Carlyle,  it  is  true,  sometimes  was 
sent  in  to  dinner  at  the  head  of  the  company,  but 
so  was  Sara  Bernhardt,  in  my  time ;  and  in  each 
instance  the  distinction  was  an  impertinence.  It 
was  not  because  the  author  or  the  actor  was  con- 
sidered above  the  nobility,  but  because  they  were 
not  in  the  degrees  at  all.  The  forms  which  the 
aristocracy  maintain  among  themselves  are  inap- 
plicable with  such  outsiders,  and  the  dramatic  or 
literary  lions  may  in  this  way  come  to  receive  the 
place  usually  reserved  for  princes.  If  they  were 
given  a  definite  station  in  the  line  it  would  be  more 
like  a  recognition  of  their  quality.  But  nobody 
supposed  the  French  artist  was  grander  than  duch- 
esses because  she  walked  in  before  them ;  and  to- 
day if  she  went  back  to  London,  the  houses  where 
she  once  was  welcomed,  would  be  closed  to  her. 
The  fashion  is  past. 

Two  or  three  men  of  letters  have,  it  is  true,  main- 
tained a  permanent  position  in  aristocratic  society, 
but  it  is  one  neither  lofty  nor  dignified.  These  are 
received  not  because  of  any  personal  distinction  or 
position,  not  because  they  have  written  poetry  or 
history  or  romance,  but  because  they  are  men  of 
agreeable  manners  and  interesting  information,  used 
to  the  forms  and  relishing  the  frivolities  of  the  great 
world — intellectual  courtiers  and  time-servers.  They 
are  diners-out,  though  they  don't  dine  lords  in  re- 
turn ;  they  haunt  ball-rooms  and  race-courses  and 


268  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

country-houses ;  but  they  are  seldom  seen  at  court. 
In  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  society  you  might 
imagine  that  they  belonged  to  the  sphere  in  which 
they  seem  to  move,  but  the  moment  the  great  ques- 
tion of  rank  is  raised,  they  fall  back  to  their  own 
place;  everybody  precedes  them  and  passes  by 
them,  and  if  matters  of  privilege  are  discussed,  they 
are  necessarily  and  of  course  ignored. 

But  the  nobility,  it  is  said,  is  itself  engaged  in 
literature ;  and  the  lords,  and  the  ladies,  too,  do 
dabble  a  little  in  literature.  Lord  Mahon,  after- 
wards Lord  Stanhope,  wrote  a  dreary  history ;  the 
Duke  of  Argyll  has  discussed  science,  and  the  late 
Duke  of  Somerset  religion,  in  a  manner  quite 
abnormal  in  dukes,  but  their  labors  would  have  at- 
tracted little  attention  in  persons  of  lower  degree. 
A  dozen  or  more  lords  and  lordlings  have  written 
books  of  travel  or  memoirs,  with  the  assistance  of 
their  doctors,  or  tutors,  or  secretaries;  and  one  or 
two  titled  dames  have  put  their  names  to  really 
readable  romances;  while,  as  the  courts  of  law  can 
testify,  the  quality  contribute  gossip  and  scandal  at 
a  guinea  an  item  to  the  society  journals,  and  an 
editor  has  been  sent  to  jail  for  the  libels  that  a 
countess  supplied. 

But  these  caprices  of  the  aristocracy  never  lower 
them  in  the  eyes  of  their  equals  or  inferiors.  A 
duke  or  a  countess  may  write  books  and  not  lose 
caste,  just  as  some  of  them  play  in  private  theatri- 


LITEEATUEE    AND  THE    LOEDS.  269 

cals  or  sing  at  concerts  for  charity;  the  Duke  of 
Edinbiirgli  even  plays  the  violin  in  public  in  the 
orchestra.  But  all  this  is  very  different  from  be- 
longing to  the  trade,  Dukes  drive  the  coach  to 
Brighton,  and  I  have  seen  a  viscount  touch  his  hat 
and  take  a  tip  from  an  unknown  passenger,  as  he 
put  a  portmanteau  into  the  boot.  But  for  all  that, 
no  one  considered  him  the  fellow  of  a  genuine  Jehu. 
So  it  is  with  literature. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  is  looked  upon  as  ^9or  excel- 
cellence  the  literary  peer.  While  I  was  in  London 
he  presided  at  a  Press  Fund  dinner.  His  speech  was 
full  of  condescension  and  consideration  for  the  liter- 
ary guild.  He  applauded  the  merits  of  these  worthy 
members  of  the  middle  class,  declared  that  they 
should  be  protected,  and  supported  and  encouraged ; 
and  altogether  spoke  of  them  about  as  a  Congress- 
man here  might  discuss  the  occupants  of  tenement- 
houses  or  broken-down  cobblers  deserving  charity. 

The  literary  people  were  of  the  same  mind  as  his 
Grace.  They  were  delighted  to  get  a  duke  to  talk 
thus  to  them ;  to  teach  them  their  duty,  to  preside 
at  their  dinner  and  send  them  a  couple  of  guineas 
for  their  fund.  The  spirit  of  the  jester  still  lingei-s. 
Thackeray  himself  tells  how  proud  he  was  to  walk 
down  Pall  Mall  between  dukes.  Sir  Thomas 
Erskine  May,  who  has  hved  all  his  life  among 
lords,  devotes  pages  of  his  Constitutional  History 
of  England  to  glorifying  and  upholding  the  influ- 


270  ARISTOCEACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

ence  of  the  aristocracy.  Yet  Thackeray  satirized 
the  foibles  of  the  people  he  considered  his  betters 
with  a  lash  as  cutting  as  Juvenal's,  and  Erskine 
May  describes  in  detail  the  corruptions  and  mean- 
nesses, the  bargains  and  sales,  the  tricks  and  devices 
by  means  of  which  the  peerage  has  been  recruited 
and  maintained.  The  newspapers  follow  the  lead 
of  the  poets  and  novelists  and  historians.  Pages  of 
every  journal  are  devoted  to  descriptions  of  feasts 
to  which  newspaper  writers  are  never  asked,  and  to 
details  of  the  life  and  pursuits  of  the  most  ordinary 
characters  who  happen  to  have  title  and  rank,  from 
Princes  of  the  Blood  down  to  city  knights  and  Com- 
panions of  the  Bath. 

Everybody  in  England  knows  how  a  lord  is 
made ;  that  barbers  may  become  Lord  Chancellors 
and  brewers  get  baronies ;  that  political  service  or 
trickery,  or  wealth  obtained  often  by  questionable 
means,  can  secure  that  nobility  which  is  denied  to 
science  and  letters  and  art.  Yet  Eroude  and 
Leckey  and  May  uphold  the  system,  and  journal- 
ists with  more  power  than  any  duke  in  the  peerage, 
prostrate  themselves  in  their  columns  at  the  men- 
tion of  a  lord.  Nine-tenths  of  the  literary  men  in 
England  feel  honored  when  asked  to  the  tables  of 
persons  with  less  education  or  character  or  ability 
than  themselves. 

The  people  who  use  the  pen,  indeed,  do  more  for 
the  continuance  of  the  aristocratic  system  and  the 


LITEKATUEE   AND    THE    LORDS.  2Yl 

development  of  its  pernicious  influence  than  any 
other  class  in  the  community.  They  spread  the 
doctrines  and  intensify  the  sentiments  which  sup- 
port an  institution  more  hostile  to  the  greatest  good 
of  the  greatest  number  than  any  other  that  exists 
in  civilized  society.  If  the  men  of  letters  fought 
the  lords,  the  lords  would  succumb.  But  the  men 
of  letters  serve  and  follow  the  lords,  and  the  aristoc- 
racy flaunt  their  insolence  in  the  fece  of  the  world, 
and  take  these  intellectual  superiors  in  their  train 
to  proclaim  their  magnificence,  to  illuminate  their 
feasts,  and  to  celebrate  the  splendor  they  may  not 
share.  These  deserve  the  place  they  accept.  They 
recall  a  description  I  long  ago  read  of  a  Russian  serf 
carefully  holding  the  horses  for  his  master,  who  stood 
on  the  shafts,  w^hile  he  horse-whipped  the  slave. 

One  of  the  most  famous  English  writers  of  the 
century  told  me  that  he  had  once  been  very  inti- 
mate with  Motley,  the  historian.  They  were  fel- 
low-laborers in  the  same  field;  but  after  the 
American  was  made  a  Minister  the  British  author 
held  aloof.  Motley,  he  said,  was  now  in  another 
sphere;  he  lived  in  the  aristocratic  circle  where 
English  men  of  letters  do  not  belong.  He  evi- 
dently thought  the  diplomatist  would  look  down  on 
the  literary  class,  and  he  recognized  the  distance 
that  rank  had  put  between  himself  and  his  old 
associate. 


XXIX. 
THE    LONDON    SEASON. 

The  season  depends  upon  Parliament,  and  Par- 
liament depends  upon  sport.  The  fashionable 
world  is  composed  very  largely  of  those  connected 
with  either  the  House  of  Lords  or  the  House  of 
Commons ;  and  when  Parliament  meets,  their  fam- 
ilies come  up  to  town.  For  the  nobility  live  in 
the  country,  their  homes  are  on  their  estates,  and 
their  town-houses  are  only  for  sojourn  when  they 
happen  to  be  in  London.  The  great  world  does 
not  begin  its  whirl  till  politics  summons  the  im- 
portant members  to  transact  the  business  of  the 
nation.  In  February,  usually  in  the  second  week, 
after  the  best  of  the  hunting  is  over,  the  Queen — 
that  is,  the  Prime  Minister — calls  her  "lords  and 
gentlemen  "  together.  Then  the  fashionable  season 
begins. 

The  people  connected  with  the  government,  the 
diplomatic  corps,  those  of  the  gentry  who  have  no 
large  estates,  the  lawyers  and  literary  people,  and 
others  who  live  by  their  exertions,  all  these  are  in 
town  for  the  most  part  from  November,  with  an 


TUE    LONDON    SEASON.  273 

interval  of  a  fortnight  at  Christmas.  They  make  a 
very  pleasant  and  intimate  society  among  them- 
selves :  small  but  accessible,  and  often  much  more 
delightful  than  the  more  pompous  and  pretentious 
circle  that  comes  only  with  Parliament. 

From  February  until  Easter  is  another  pleasant 
period.  London  is  not  yet  crowded.  Many  fami- 
lies do  not  leave  the  country  so  soon.  The  rush 
has  not  begun.  There  are  yet  no  court-balls  nor 
concerts,  and  the  veterans  make  a  point  of  attending 
the  levees  and  drawing-rooms  at  this  time,  so  as  to 
avoid  the  mobs  that  crowd  to  court  later  on.  The 
ante-paschal  season  is  perhaps  the  most  agreeable 
part  of  the  London  year.  There  are  few  dances  in 
Lent,  and  not  so  many  of  the  formal  receptions 
which  nobody  wants  to  attend  and  yet  everybody 
attends.  There  are  incessant  dinners,  but  many  of 
them  are  small ;  there  are  occasional  theatre  parties, 
and  numerous  five-o'clock  teas. 

But  just  as  people  begin  to  get  used  to  each 

other,  and  fall  into  the  habit  of  meeting  two  or 

three  times  a  week  those  whom  they  really  want  to 

see — Easter  intervenes.     Parliament  is  adjourned, 

and  everybody  who  has  a  house  in  the  country  goes 

to  it.     Large  country-house  parties  are  made,  and 

the  world  of  politics  and  fashion  deserts  London. 

Those  who  have  neither  country-houses  nor  country 

invitations  would  be  lonely  in  town,  and  they  run 

off  to  the  Continent  for  a  fortnight,  or  to  Brighton, 
18 


274  AEISTOCKACY  IN    ENGLAJSTD. 

or  some  other  resort  of  forlorn,  houseless,  fashion- 
able wanderers. 

After  Easter  the  full  tide  sets  in,  everybody  is 
up.  The  great  houses  are  all  open ;  the  park  is  full 
in  the  afternoon  ;  the  Row  is  crowded  every  morn- 
ing with  a  thousand  horsewomen,  the  finest  in  the 
world,  and  the  Englishwomen  look  better  in  the 
saddle  than  anywhere  else.  Lunches  are  frequent, 
dinners  innumerable.  Forty  people  often  sit  at 
one  sumptuous  board,  and  the  overflow  sometimes 
reaches  to  side  tables ;  clever  people,  if  not  of  too 
high  rank,  contend  for  these  cosy  corners,  where 
they  can  choose  their  partners.  Balls  now  begin, 
to  the  sorrow  of  unfortunate  chaperones  and  the 
delight  of  the  debutantes.  The  Queen's  drawing- 
rooms  are  crowded.  Politics  are  everywhere  dis- 
cussed. Theatres  and  operas  are  abandoned  by 
people  of  fashion ;  for  you  cannot  dine  at  eight 
o'clock  and  go  to  the  play  the  same  night ;  while 
the  opera  has  for  years  been  given  up  to  those  who 
like  music,  and  to  strangers  and  others  who  fancy 
it  is  the  mode,  because  it  was  so  half  a  century  ago. 

But  the  whirl  lasts  only  four  or  five  weeks, 
when  Whitsuntide  comes;  and  then  another  recess, 
and  more  than  half  the  world  flits  again  to  the 
country,  which  by  this  time  is  enchanting.  I  used 
at  first  to  find  these  constant  interruptions  to  the 
round  of  society  very  provoking ;  just  as  one  got  in 
the  swim  there  was  a  gate  or  a  dike,  and  a  halt ; 


THE   LONDON    SEASON.  275 

but  after  some  years  I  liked  the  fusliion  too.  The 
lilacs  and  laburnums,  the  hawthome  and  the  gorse 
are  all  in  their  glory  about  Whitsuntide,  and  those 
who  have  ever  seen  the  resplendent  beauty  of  the 
flowering  trees  and  meads  of  England,  or  heard  the 
music  of  the  nightingale  and  the  lark,  the  black- 
bird and  the  thrush  in  May  or  early  June,  they 
know  the  exquisite  charm  of  sound  and  color  and 
fragrance  that  permeates  the  landscape,  the  refresh- 
ment of  brain  and  sense  that  comes  with  the  balmy 
atmosphere  of  this  soft  and  gracious  time. 

There  are  not  so  many  large  parties  to  the 
country  at  Whitsuntide  as  at  Easter.  The  recess  is 
shorter,  and  those  who  go  down  to  tlieir  estates 
sometimes  go  for  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  in 
their  vernal  garment  of  tender  green  and  variegated 
border,  or  to  rest  before  the  great  plunge  into  the 
vortex  of  fashion  after  their  return. 

You  come  back,  usually,  late  in  May.  It  is  now 
the  height  of  the  season.  The  country  is  never  so 
attractive  in  its  loveliness,  but  many  of  the  owners 
of  great  estates  assured  me  they  had  never  seen 
their  homes  in  June.  They  possess  great  gardens 
of  geraniums,  roseries  in  which  no  land  can  rival 
England,  lawns  and  pastures  and  groves  and  glades 
delicious  in  verdure  beyond  those  of  any  country 
on  earth ;  but  since  childhood  these  slaves  of  tlie 
world  have  never  known  what  it  was  to  look  on 
their  own  landscapes  and  enjoy  the  principal  beauty 


276  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

of  their  own  properties  at  the  season  when  their 
natural  glories  culminate.  You  must  be  in  town 
in  June,  if  jou  are  in  the  world. 

You  must  go  to  late  dinners  and  later  balls.  You 
must  breathe  the  hot  atmosphere  of  Parliament,  and 
the  still  more  stifling  air  at  court.  You  must  be 
clad  in  the  stiff  garments  that  etiquette  prescribes  for 
every  hour ;  you  must  devote  yourself  to  a  round 
of  visits  and  entertainments  which  would  be  most 
acceptable  in  dreaiy  winter,  but  now  distract  you 
from  delights  that  are  rare  in  England  because  of 
the  climate.  At  this  moment,  when  the  climate 
and  the  country  are  alike  Saturnian,  you  forsake 
the  country  and  come  up  to  town.  For  so  fashion 
decrees.  Or  rather  so  the  sportsmen  determine ; 
the  men  wnll  not  abandon  their  guns  and  their 
game  in  the  autumn  and  winter,  and  this  leaves 
only  the  spring  and  summer  for  town.  And  in 
England,  society,  like  eveiything  else,  is  ruled  by 
the  men.  The  women  only  exist  to  give  them 
pleasure  and  do  them  service ;  to  marry  them,  to 
rear  their  children,  to  preside  over  their  homes,  to 
decorate  their  entertainments.  What  the  men 
want  is  always  done,  and  the  women  submit,  as  a 
matter  of  course. 

But  since  they  must  be  in  town  in  summer,  the 
English  make  the  best  of  the  necessity.  Half  their 
amusements  are  out  of  doors.  First  there  is  the 
Derby  day,  about  the  last  of  May  or  the  first  of 


THE    LONDON    SEASON.  277 

June.  In  some  years  this  is  the  fashion,  in  others, 
not;  but  Parliament  always  adjourns  for  the  race; 
and  the  people  who  live  in  the  streets  leading  to 
Epsom,  hang  cai'pets  over  their  balconies  and  innte 
their  friends  to  look  at  the  returning  crowds.  On 
the  4th  of -June  there  is  Commencement  at  Eton, 
and  a  boat-race  by  the  boys,  to  which  swarms  of 
smart  people  go  down. 

Then  there  are  cricket  matches  between  the  Lords 
and  the  Commons,  between  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
between  Eton  and  Harrow.  These  are  held  at  a 
pleasure-ground  called  "  Lord's "  in  the  outskirts 
of  London,  and  are  very  high  fashion  indeed. 
The  great  folk  send  their  largest  carriages  down  the 
night  before,  and  the  enclosure  is  lined  three  rows 
deep.  Next  day  they  drive  down  in  landaus, 
broughams,  and  victorias,  and  mount  the  drags  or 
coaches  in  their  gayest  gowns  and  highest  beavers, 
to  watch  the  game.  They  lunch  on  the  carriages 
and  get  back  in  time  for  dinner. 

Above  all  now  is  the  time  for  garden  parties. 
Chiswick  is  a  delightful  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  which  in  some 
years  he  lends  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  condition 
that  His  Highness  gives  two  great  breakfasts  a 
season.  The  parties  at  Strawberry  Hall  are  histor- 
ical, as  well  as  those  at  Sion  House  and  Osterley, 
the  parks  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  and  the 
Dowager   Duchess  of  Cleveland.     The  nearest  of 


278  ARISTOCRACY    EST   ENGLAND. 

these  is  ten  miles  from  London,  but  people  think 
nothing  of  driving  out  and  back  between  luncheon 
and  dinner.  Closer  to  town  are  the  lodges  of  the 
Duke  of  Argyll  and  Lady  Burdett-Coutts ;  and 
noblest  of  all,  Holland  House,  with  its  memories 
more  stately  even  than  its  architecture,  and  more 
unfading  than  its  far-famed  landscape  and  lawn. 
All  these  are  thronged  every  season  with  people  of 
highest  rank  and  oldest  name ;  as  many  statesmen 
and  soldiers  and  diplomatists  as  butterflies  of 
fashion,  wits  or  belles,  or  dowagers  or  dandies. 
Even  the  Queen  throws  open  the  gardens  of  Buck- 
ingham Palace  sometimes  in  July,  and  invites  a  few 
thousand  of  her  greatest  subjects  to  afternoon  tea. 

These  garden  parties  are  unique  in  effect  and 
loveliness.  The  women  wear  costumes  of  the  light- 
est fabrics  and  most  delicate  colors,  appropriate  in 
tint  and  texture  for  a  ball ;  the  men  are  the  best 
dressed  and  the  handsomest  in  the  world ;  the  lawns 
and  trees  and  gardens  make  the  most  channing 
background ;  there  are  marquees  and  music,  carpets 
spread  here  and  there  on  the  grass ;  sometimes  an 
archery  match  or  an  alfresco  play;  sometimes 
Punch  and  Judy  under  the  blossoms  for  the  chil- 
dren. The  scene  is  worthy  of  Watteau's  daintiest 
pencil. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  comes  Ascot  week,  when 
those  who  have  invitations  whirl  down  to  the  races 
which  royalty  attends  in  state.    This  makes  another 


THE   LONDON    SEASON.  279 

lull  in  the  gayety,  but  only  a  lull ;  for  it  is  now  July 
and  every  one  has  too  much  to  do.  There  are  the 
Court  balls  and  concerts ;  an  Emperor,  or  a  Shah, 
or  a  Czar  is  sure  to  arrive,  whom  some  very  grand 
personage  must  entertain,  and  everybody  must  go  to 
see  him,  or  say  they  have  done  so.  Politics  are  at 
fever  heat.  Some  important  question  is  to  be  de- 
bated or  settled  in  Parliament,  and  the  world  goes 
to  the  House  of  Lords  for  a  night.  Dinners  at 
Eichmond  are  popular  at  this  period.  People  drive 
down  in  morning  dress  and  boat  on  the  Thames,  or 
sit  on  the  Terrace  and  look  at  the  marvellous  land- 
scape which  Turner  painted  but  could  not  rival. 
They  dine  at  the  Star  and  Garter  Inn,  and  drive 
back  through  the  delicious  glades  of  Richmond 
Park  in  the  long  twilight  or  the  moonlight,  or  per- 
haps under  a  shower  that  touches  every  leaf  with 
a  more  glistening  green,  yet  hardly  harms  the  most 
fragile  garment  of  the  gayest  noble  dame. 

Wimbledon  is  the  last  of  the  fUes  champetres. 
All  the  world  goes  to  see  the  shooting  by  the 
Volunteers,  and  the  lucky  ones  stop  at  one  or  two 
of  the  charming  retreats  that  still  linger  along  the 
road,  hidden  from  the  passer-by,  who  never  suspects 
the  exquisite  charm  of  woodland  and  dell  so  near 
and  yet  concealed. 

But  the  Lords,  and  the  Commons  too,  begin  to 
get  restive  as  August  approaches  ;  for  on  the  twelfth 
grouse-shooting  begins.     Arrangements   are  made 


280  AKISTOCKACY    IN    ENGLAND. 

for  Scotland  and  the  North ;  those  who  are  ordered 
to  Carlsbad  or  Kissingen  for  their  sins,  or  their 
amusement,  make  ready  to  start.  A  few  familiar 
faces  are  ah-eadj  missed.  Here  and  there  a  great 
house  is  closed.  There  are  not  so  many  carriages 
in  the  Ring,  not  so  many  riders  in  the  Row.  Of  a 
Sunday  afternoon  there  are  fewer  light  gowns  on 
the  seats  in  Hyde  Park.  The  debates  are  more 
languid.  The  Minister  announces  what  measures  he 
must  abandon  for  lack  of  time,  and  this  "Massacre 
of  the  Innocents,"  as  it  is  called,  is  a  sure  precursor 
of  the  end.  Usually  by  the  sacred  12th,  all  is  over, 
and  if  by  some  strange  fatality  the  Houses  have 
not  yet  been  prorogued,  the  world  is  gone  ;  streets 
and  halls  are  deserted ;  the  gay  and  the  great  are 
scattered  over  mountain  and  moor,  in  Switzerland 
or  the  Highlands,  shooting,  or  drinking  the  waters, 
or  resting  for  their  autumnal  labors.  The  London 
season  is  at  an  end. 


XXX. 

ARISTOCRATIC  INFLUENCE. 

As  a  legislative  body,  the  Peers  must  hereafter 
always  yield  when  they  are  opposed  by  the  will  of 
a  popular  minister  ;  but  those  are  greatly  mistaken 
who  suppose  that  their  sway  is  entirely  past.  On 
the  outside  of  Parliament  the  Lords  are  still  power- 
ful if  not  paramount.  In  society,  on  their  estates, 
in  the  hunting  field,  in  the  Church,  the  army,  the 
press,  the  courts  of  law,  their  influence  is  prodigious. 

In  all  the  circles  that  make  up  English  high 
society,  aristocratic  politics  are  predominant.  What 
the  Lords  think  and  wish  is  all- important  there. 
Nothing  in  this  world  can  be  more  delightful  or  de- 
sirable for  the  fortunate  few  who  possess  it,  than  the 
position  of  the  English  aristocrats  ;  and  naturally 
they  favor  the  political  party  which  aims  at  retain- 
ing this  position  lor  them  ;  or,  rather,  they  lead  and 
control,  they  constitute,  and  to  a  great  degree  com- 
pose it.  At  clubs  and  dinners  and  country  houses, 
as  well  as  in  the  newspapers  controlled  by  those 
who  frequent  such  places  or  aspire  to  do  so,  the  tone 
of  politics  is  generally  very  different  from  what  pre- 


282  AEISTOCEACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

vails  in  less  exclusive  spheres.  Public  opinion  often 
does  not  penetrate  to  the  Peers,  but  their  opinions 
always  filter  outward  and  downward.  Every  great 
lady  in  England  is  interested  in  the  movements  and 
measures  of  politics,  and  is  acquainted  with  most  of 
the  prominent  men,  at  least  on  her  own  side.  Many 
are  politicians  themselves,  and  some  have  really 
been  leaders,  though  as  a  rule  only  of  personal 
cliques  and  for  personal  motives.  They  are,  of 
course,  conservative. 

When  Lord  Beaconsfield  returned  from  Berlin  in 
1878,  having  arrested  the  advance  of  Pussia  upon 
Constantinople,  half  a  dozen  duchesses  met  him  at 
the  railway  station  with  salutations  and  flowers,  to 
indicate  their  partisanship.  Later  still  there  have 
been  instances  of  women  of  rank  attempting  to  in- 
fluence the  electors.  It  is  not  long  since  Lady 
Derby  was  openly  accused  of  illegally  soliciting 
votes  on  Lord  Derby's  estates.  The  first  Lady  Dilke, 
though  only  a  baronet's  wife,  drove  about  London 
in  an  open  carriage  distributing  favors  when  her 
husband  was  a  candidate;  and  the  part  that  an 
American  aristocrat,  Lady  Randolph  Churchill, 
took  in  the  elections  of  1885,  is  as  w^ell  known  here 
as  in  England. 

All  of  which  shows  that  the  blandishments  of 
rank  are  as  potent  with  the  tradesmen  of  Chelsea  or 
the  peasants  of  Woodstock,  as  with  Prime  Minis- 
ters.    For  it  is  not  only  the  feminine  charm  that  is 


AEISTOCEATIC    INFLUENCE.  283 

irresistible,  although  Englishmen  as  a  rule  are  very 
manly,  and  therefore  very  susceptible  to  womanly 
wiles  ;  but  had  these  ladies  been  simply  the  equals 
of  those  whom  they  sought  to  aficct,  their  success 
would  not  have  been  achieved  nor  their  effort 
made.  It  was  arrogance  and  assumption  of  the 
most  arrant  sort.  But  the  English  like  arrogance 
and  assumption  in  their  betters.  They  consider 
these  qualities  appropriate  in  those  entitled  to  dis- 
play them. 

The  aristocratic  influence  does  not  stop  short  at 
society,  nor  is  it  confined  to  elections.  Wealth 
everywhere  that  is  not  inherited,  whether  acquired 
by  manufactures  or  commerce  or  whatever  means, 
seeks  to  bask  in  the  favor  of  the  nobility,  is  ambi- 
tious of  their  connection,  craves  admission  to  their 
company.  The  professions  lean  for  their  support  on 
the  higher  orders.  The  lawyers,  who  manage  the 
estates  of  the  lords,  and  the  physicians,  who  care 
for  their  bodies,  are  alike  dependants  of  the  aristoc- 
racy, and  so  regard  themselves.  The  Church  and 
the  army  have  long  been  appurtenances  of  the  great 
monopoly.  The  clergy  are,  for  the  most  part,  the 
creatures  of  lay  patronage,  and  peculiarly  connected 
with  the  landed  interest ;  they  everywhere  cleave 
to  power.  ]Srot  until  1871  was  purchase  abolished 
in  the  army.  Up  to  that  date,  the  purchase  of  com- 
missions was  one  of  the  especial  and  favorite  means 
by  which  the  aristocracy  provided  for  its  members 


284  AEISTOCKACY   EST    ENGLAOT). 

and  preserved  its  privileges.  The  army  is  to-day 
officered  in  a  great  degree  by  men  who  bought  their 
rank,  and  expected  when  they  did  so  to  buy  their 
promotion. 

Even  in  the  courts  of  law  the  influence  of  the 
aristocracy  is  apparent.  A  lord  may  sit  on  the  bench 
beside  a  judge,  though  often  he  is  a  notorious  vio- 
lator of  the  law.  If  a  drunken  marquis  or  a  rowdy 
viscount  is  brought  before  a  magistrate,  he  is  usually 
treated  with  servile  deference,  a  fine  is  meted  out 
to  him  for  the  offence  which  in  a  humbler  culprit 
would  be  punished  with  imprisonment,  and  my 
lord  is  bowed  graciously  out  of  court.  The  Eng- 
lish are  fond  of  proclaiming  the  incorruptible  char- 
acter of  their  judiciary,  and  of  late  years  judges 
have  hardly  ever  been  bought  with  money;  but 
social  influences  have  repeatedly  affected  the  con- 
duct and  the  decisions  of  the  courts.  In  the  famous 
Tichborne  ease  the  whole  pressure  of  society  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  judge  and  advocate,  till,  to 
the  disgrace  of  the  profession  and  the  bench,  the 
barrister  threw  up  his  brief  and  deserted  his  client 
when  the  case  was  only  half  tried,  and  two  judges 
in  succession  ruled  so  notoriously  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  accused  that  both  the  press  and  public  opin- 
ion proclaimed  a  disapproval. 

In  the  case  of  the  will  of  a  late  Lord  Chancellor, 
a  decision,  manifestly  in  violation  of  law,  was 
brought  about  by  similar  influences.    The  testimony 


AKISTOCEATIC   INFLUENCE.  285 

of  the  daughter  of  Lord  St.  Leonards  was  received 
as  to  the  language  of  a  will  in  her  own  favor, 
though  the  original  will  was  lost.  There  was,  in 
fact,  no  proof  that  the  will  had  ever  been  made, 
except  the  evidence  of  the  interested  party ;  yet  the 
judge  decided  that  a  document  reversing  all  the 
ordinary  rules  of  English  descent  should  be  ac- 
cepted, though  it  had  never  been  in  court.  But 
high  society  was  hostile  to  the  regular  heir. 

The  influence  of  the  aristocracy  upon  literature 
and  the  press  is  too  important  a  theme  to  be  discussed 
in  a  paragraph.  But  there  are  many  of  the  learned 
and  intellectual  men  of  England  so  affected  by  the 
splendor  and  pageantry  of  rank  that  their  reason  is 
subdued  by  their  imagination ;  or  else  they  are  so 
constituted  by  nature  that  they  prefer  stability  to 
progress.  Since  so  much  has  been  achieved  un- 
der aristocratic  rule  they  are  averse  to  change,  and 
remain  indifferent  to  the  misery  which  must  exist 
so  long  as  the  great  disparity  of  condition  con- 
tinues. 

The  tradesmen  in  the  cities  and  smaller  towns 
are  supported  by  the  aristocracy ;  the  farmers  in  the 
country  are  their  tenants  and  dependants ;  of  course, 
these  follow  the  lead  of  their  masters  and  supe- 
riors. 

The  hinds,  as  they  are  still  called,  the  helots  on 
the  estates,  are  as  stolid  and  brutish  a  race  as  any 
peasantry  in  the  world,  and  seem,  like  the  slaves  at 


286  AEISTOCKA.CT  IN    ENGLAND. 

the  South  before  emancipation,  content  with  their 
condition,  because  they  have  never  known  or  con- 
ceived any  other.  They  are  bred  to  suppose  that 
what  they  see  is  the  natural  order  of  things,  and 
that  change  is  not  only  wrong  but  impossible ;  that 
their  lot  is  ordained  of  God,  as  inevitable  as  death, 
and  deliverance  as  far  off  as  the  stars.  The  parson 
preaches  this  doctrine  for  religion  ;  the  squire  lays 
it  down  as  the  law ;  for  the  squire  is  also  the  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  the  highest  and  often  the  only 
ofl&cer  of  the  law  the  laborer  ever  sees.  Law,  re- 
ligion, rank,  power,  all  are  on  one  side ;  and  the 
wretch  with  his  shilling  a  day  and  his  family  to 
support  lives  near  the  palace  of  his  master,  and  rots 
and  drinks,  or  starves  and  dies,  ignorant  of  the 
possibility  of  improvement,  and  submissive — they 
say. 

I  remember  discussing  the  permanency  of  Eng- 
lish institutions  with  a  man  who  had  been  in  half 
the  Governments  of  England  during  the  last  fifty 
years.  He  expressly  invited  my  opinions,  and  I 
spoke  freely.  I  said  that  of  course  the  aristocracy 
and  the  upper  classes  were  content  with  their  con- 
dition, and  even  with  the  general  state  of  affairs ; 
that  the  middle  class — comprising  those  who  live 
by  the  aristocracy — the  tradesmen,  the  domestic 
servants,  and  the  farmers,  and  higher  still,  those 
who  aspire  to  enter  the  aristocracy,  or,  at  least,  to 
associate  with   it,  were  unwilling   to   disturb   that 


AKISTOCKATIC   INFLUENCE.  287 

order  which  is  their  support  and  their  pride ;  but 
when  the  class  below  all  these  is  reached,  the  manu- 
facturing working  class  and  the  agricultural  laborer 
— eight  millions  at  least  in  numbers — I  doubted 
whether  content  was  universal  or  whether,  if  they 
had  the  power,  they  would  use  it  to  maintain  either 
Crown  or  Lords.  It  was  then  that  he  replied  with 
the  remark  I  have  quoted  before :  "  Every  English- 
man is  at  heart  a  lackey.  We  all  want  something 
above  us  ;  something  to  kotow  to." 

He  admitted  that  the  manufacturing  working 
people  were  radical,  and  perhaps  revolutionary,  in 
their  ideas ;  but  he  thought  the  hinds  on  the  estates 
preferred  to  have  superiors ;  that  the  feudal  feeling 
with  them  was  still  uppermost;  that  they  were 
satisfied.  Stolid,  it  seems  to  me  they  are,  but  not 
satisfied ;  and  when  they  get  some  notion  that  a 
diflerent  life  for  them  is  possible,  when  they  dis- 
cover that  their  class  in  other  countries  exerts  an  in- 
fluence, I  would  not  answer  for  their  submissive- 
ness.  The  lackeys  may  be  taken  from  this  class, 
but  not  all  the  class  are  lackeys.  The  President  of 
the  Poor  Law  Board,  the  highest  authority  on  these 
matters  in  England,  informed  me  that  there  are  a 
million  of  paupers  in  the  kingdom,  wretches  with- 
out a  particle  of  means,  supported  by  the  State.  It 
is  impossible  that  the  contrast  between  this  worse 
than  poverty  and  the  opulence  and  luxury  of  others 
should  not  sometimes  present  itself  to  the  stupidest 


288  AKISTOCKACT  IN    ENGLAND. 

nnnd.  The  very  week  after  this  conversation  the 
agricultui'al  disturbances  of  18T0  occurred,  and  the 
movement  led  by  Joseph  Arch;  and  all  England 
was  anxious  for  months  lest  the  helots  should  rise. 
To-day  they  have  the  ballot. 


GLADSTONE-THE  ICONOCLAST. 

The  great  antagonist  of  Aristocracy  in  England 
at  the  present  time  is  "William  Ewart  Gladstone; 
yet  he  began  his  career  as  a  Tory  and  High-Church- 
man. One  of  Macaulay's  early  essays  was  a  Whig 
attack  on  a  manifesto  by  a  young  man  whom  the 
reviewer  called  "The  Rising  Hope  of  the  Stern 
and  Unbending  Tories."  The  book  was  Glad- 
stone's defence  of  "  The  State  in  its  Relations  with 
the  Church."  To-day  the  Tory  has  passed  beyond 
the  position  even  of  the  Whigs,  and  left  them  far 
to  the  rear.  In  both  Church  and  State  they  are 
the  drag  and  he  is  the  leader — as  the  coacli  rolls 
rapidly  down  the  hill  of  Revolution — the  Tories  say. 

His  transition  has  been  gradual.  No  statesman 
in  history  has  grown  more  steadily  or  furnished  a 
finer  instance  of  evolution.  For  years  he  was  sim- 
ply the  great  financier  of  bis  party ;  be  looked  little 
to  the  revolutionary  or  progressive  politics  that 
were  developing  around  him.  But,  as  the  old  lead- 
ers like  Sir  Robert  Peel,  Lord  Palmerston,  and  the 
last  Lord  Derbv  passed  away,  and  Lord  Russell 
19 


290  ARISTOCKACT  IN    ENGLAIiTD. 

became  decrepit  and  finally  senile,  two  younger 
men  stepped  into  the  arena,  grander  figures  in  Eng- 
lish politics  than  any  since  the  days  of  Pitt  and 
Fox,  and  one,  at  least,  destined  to  leave  a  deeper 
impress  on  the  history  of  his  country  than  even 
those  giants  of  the  Napoleonic  day. 

In  1869,  when  I  first  went  to  England,  Disraeli 
and  Gladstone  were  the  acknowledged  chiefs  of  the 
two  great  political  camps.  One  had  worked  his 
way  up  by  the  adroitest  use  of  all  the  arts  of  policy 
and  personal  address,  by  attacking  his  friends  and 
deserting  his  chiefs  at  opportune  crises,  by  truckling 
to  the  prejudices  and  trading  on  the  fears  of  a  pow- 
erful order ;  above  all,  by  the  aid  of  an  intense  self- 
ishness that  was  able  to  perceive  its  ends  from  afar, 
and  to  subject  principle  and  even  passion  to  its 
purposes ;  the  very  Mephistopheles  and  Machiavelli 
of  modern  politics ;  mocking,  insincere,  indifierent, 
so  far  as  others  were  concerned ;  persistent,  devoted, 
all-grasping  in  his  own  designs ;  grand  in  his  power 
to  compel  a  race  that  he  despised  and  an  aristocracy 
that  despised  him,  to  do  his  bidding.  The  other 
was  a  religious  zealot,  an  intense  thinker,  and  yet  a 
practical  man  ;  full  of  love  for  the  church  and  satu- 
rated with  scholarly  veneration  for  the  past ;  with 
all  the  inborn  reverence  of  an  Englishman  for  what- 
ever is  established,  and  the  awe  of  a  middle-class 
man  for  the  aristocracy :  yet  impelled  by  the  com- 
bined force  of  his  own  energies  and  ambitions,  and 


GLADSTONE ^THE    ICONOCLAST.  291 

the  tremendous  vigor  of  his  ever-expanding  intel- 
lectual convictions,  as  well  as  hy  the  influence  of 

the  iconoclastic  and  reformiug  spirit  of  the  time 

that  penetrated  and  finallv  permeated  him — till  he 
turned  upon  the  institutions  he  had  loved  the  best, 
and  like  one  inspired  by  the  Fates,  attacked  and  de- 
stroyed what  he  had  been  all  his  life  upholding  and 
defending.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant  band 
of  ardent  thinkers  and  earnest  patriots,  some  of 
them  doubtless  crude  or  doctrinav'e,  impractical 
and  over-zealous;  others  inclining  to  the  extreme 
of  caution,  yet  representing  the  element  in  English 
statesmanship  which  at  that  time  had  accom- 
plished whatever  had  been  achieved  by  or  for  the 
English  people  since  the  downfall  of  the  Stuarts. 

The  first  gage  of  battle  was  the  Irish  Church. 
Gladstone  was  made  Prime  Minister  that  he  might 
overthrow  that  relic  of  the  ancient  alliance  of 
Church  and  State  which  he  had  once  written  a  book 
to  defend.  The  religious  enthusiast,  the  early  apos- 
tle of  EstabUshment,  led  the  Whigs  and  the  Radi- 
cals in  their  assault  on  the  Church,  while  the  political 
adventurer,  the  renegade  from  Liberalism,  the  for- 
eigner in  blood  and  belief,  was  the  champion  of  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  of  the  aristocracy,  and  in 
reality,  of  the  court.  Their  rivalry  lasted  till  the 
death  of  Beaconsfield.  Only  one  of  these  men 
could  be  Prime  Minister  so  long  as  both  were 
living. 


292  ARISTOCRACY   EST    ENGLAND. 

Gladstone's  convictions,  his  enemies  say,  have 
always  been  easily  changed  when  the  motive  was 
strong ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  conver- 
sions have  often  been  seasonable.  Any  one  who 
had  studied  his  career  could  easily  have  predicted 
his  course  in  the  Irish  emergency.  He  was  certain 
to  yield  when  the  enemy  became  irresistible ;  to 
lead  those  to  victory  whose  victory  he  had  himself 
opposed.  Circumstances,  however,  make  potent 
arguments.  When  the  political  necessity  is  press- 
ing, the  political  vision  becomes  clearer,  and  emer- 
gency often  compels  to  a  course  that  if  the  emergency 
did  not  exist  might  be  unadvisable.  It  should  be 
remembered,  too,  that  Gladstone's  progress  has  al- 
ways been  in  one  direction.  After  he  once  set  out 
towards  Liberalism  he  has  never  been  a  backslider. 
When  he  could  not  proceed  as  far  as  he  wished  he 
has  neither  retreated  nor  recanted.  Whatever  the 
inducement,  whether  of  hope  or  fear,  he  never  re- 
turns to  his  idols. 

He  has  been  accused  of  a  Jesuitical  tendency,  of  a 
disposition  to  find  arguments  in  favor  of  acts  after 
the  acts  have  been  performed ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
when  good  logic  was  not  at  his  disposal  he  has 
sometimes  resorted  to  sophistries  unworthy  of  the 
preacher  of  purity  and  Christianity  infused  into 
politics.  Two  notable  instances  of  this  occurred 
while  I  was  in  England. 

One  was  generally  known  as  the  Ewelme  scandal. 


GLADSTONE THE    ICONOCLAST.  293 

The  living  of  Ewelme  is  in  the  gift  of  the  Prime 
Minister,  but  a  provision  of  law  requires  the  incum- 
bent to  be  a  member  of  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Mr.  Gladstone  had  a  favorite  who  was  a  Cambridge 
man,  and,  that  he  might  receive  the  coveted  prefer- 
ment, this  clergyman  was  first  made  a  member  of 
Oxford  and  then  immediately  promoted  to  the  po- 
sition reserved  for  Oxford  men.  The  proceeding 
provoked  much  harsh  criticism,  and  the  Christian 
statesman  certainly  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge 
of  evading  the  law  for  personal  purposes. 

The  other  case  afiected  the  judiciary.  Only 
judges  who  have  sat  in  certain  courts  are  eligible 
for  appointment  to  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the 
Privy  Council,  a  Court  of  Appeal  of  the  highest 
dignity  and  consequence.  Its  members  must  be 
selected  from  the  bench,  so  that  their  judicial  expe- 
rience may  tell  in  their  new  position.  But  Mr. 
Gladstone  appointed  his  Attorney-General,  Sir 
Robert  Collier,  to  a  judgeship  for  two  days,  and 
then  bestowed  on  him  the  preferment  intended  ex- 
clusively for  the  bench.  These  acts  speak  for  them- 
selves. His  enemies  not  unnaturally  proclaimed 
that  the  man  who  talked  so  loudly  of  truth  and 
purity  had  poisoned  the  fountains  of  both  religion 
and  justice,  and  carried  his  favoritism  in  spite  of 
law  into  the  Church  and  the  Courts. 

These  traits  may  not  be  omitted  from  the  por- 
trait, but  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  other  features  of 


294  AEISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

his  character  and  other  incidents  in  his  career. 
The  long  list  of  his  achievements  in  behalf  of  prog- 
ress should  not  be  forgotten  in  America.  Durino- 
his  first  two  administrations  Gladstone  accom- 
plished more  than  any  other  English  statesman  since 
Cromwell  has  even  attempted  in  the  waj  of  over- 
throwing abuses  and  reforming  institutions.  He 
not  only  disestablished  the  Irish  Church  and  reno- 
vated the  system  of  Irish  tenancy ;  he  introduced 
the  ballot  into  England,  he  abolished  purchase  in 
the  army,  he  extended  education,  he  brought  about 
the  recent  extension  of  the  franchise.  He  has 
opened  the  way  for  the  admission  of  the  poorest  and 
humblest  Englishman  to  the  highest  political  rights, 
and  made  inevitable  the  modification  and  eventual 
abolition  of  the  firmest-rooted  wrongs  and  the  un- 
fairest  privileges.  Whenever  equality,  not  only  of 
position,  but  of  opportunity,  is  established  in  Eng- 
gland,  Gladstone  will  be  looked  upon  as  tlie  John 
the  Baptist,  the  fore-runner  of  the  Messiah. 

In  foreign  matters  he  has  championed  the  op- 
pressed of  many  lands.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  he  directed  attention  to  the  atrocities  oi 
King  Bomba  of  Kaples,  and  assisted  in  precipitating 
the  downfall  of  that  royal  monster ;  and  in  this  way 
pioneered  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  His 
eloquent  utterances  after  the  Bulgarian  massacres, 
the  tremendous  invectives  he  poured  on  Turkish 
depravity,  are  not  yet  forgotten,  and  undoubtedly 


GLADSTONE THE    ICONOCLAST.  295 

were  the  chief  weapon  that  struck  the  cynical  friend 
of  the  Turk,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  from  power. 

For  in  foreign  affairs  Gladstone  has  never  hesi- 
tated to  manifest  a  spirit  almost  unexampled  in  the 
statesmen  of  any  country  or  time.  Hardly  ever  has 
republican  or  monarchist  dared  to  set  his  country 
right,  when  she  was  in  the  wrong,  before  the  world  ; 
to  confess  for  her  the  wrong,  to  withdraw  her  from 
a  false  position,  to  emulate  the  gospel  spirit,  and 
carry  Christianity  into  politics  on  so  grand  a  scale. 
The  retrocession  of  the  Ionian  islands,  the  similar 
policy  in  South  Africa,  the  determination  not  to  do 
evil  in  India  that  good  might  come ;  the  refusal  to 
resist  the  encroachments  of  Russia  by  perfidious 
or  iniquitous  means,  or  to  support  the  Turk  in  evil 
practices  because  those  practices  might  tend  to  the 
benefit  of  England — these  are  remarkable  instances 
of  what  I  mean.  The  submission  to  arbitration  of 
the  question  whether  England  had  done  wrong  in 
the  Alabama  matter,  was  a  step  of  the  same  char- 
acter ;  while  the  expression  of  regret  for  the  injury 
inflicted  was  a  humiliation  that  no  statesman  ever 
before  in  history  put  upon  his  country  willingly. 
Some  will  call  the  act  sublime;  but  there  were 
many  Englishmen  who  considered  it  pusillanimous. 
It  was  not  pusillanimous,  for  it  was  not  extorted  by 
fear  ;  and  it  tended  to  produce  a  cordial  sentiment 
between  the  two  countries  that  nothing  else  could 
have  evoked. 


296  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

Gladstone  went  through  a  storm  of  obloquy  and 
condemnation  on  this  account.  I  was  in  England 
still,  and  could  watch  his  course.  Public  sentiment 
was  so  violent  that  at  times  the  representatives  of 
the  United  States  felt  its  influence  in  their  personal 
and  social  relations,  and  when  the  famous  "  Indirect 
Claims"  were  presented,  the  nations  stood  on  the 
verge  of  war.  Americans  at  home  hardly  appreci- 
ated the  intensity  of  the  British  sentiment,  but 
those  in  England,  especially  if  they  had  access 
to  ofiicial  or  important  circles,  knew  the  depth  of 
the  feeling.  The  press  and  Parliament  were  almost 
unanimous  in  their  bitterness  and  their  unfairness. 
But  Mr.  Gladstone  never  swerved  from  his  inten- 
tion or  his  effort  to  carry  out  what  he  had  prom- 
ised. His  loyalty  and  the  skilful  diplomacy  of 
Secretary  Fish  and  General  Schenck,  which  has 
never  been  recognized  as  it  deserves,  brought  the 
two  peoples  through  a  crisis  of  no  ordinary  char- 
acter. 

The  foreign  policy  of  Mr.  Gladstone  has  never 
met  the  general  approbation  of  his  countrymen : 
his  genius  does  not  shine  in  the  sphere  of  diplo- 
macy. Certainly  the  result  in  Egypt  was  not  one 
to  be  proud  of  The  bombardment  of  Alexandria 
was  a  reproach  to  the  English  nation,  and  an  out- 
rage on  the  civilization  of  the  age — punished  in  the 
same  region  and  the  same  decade  by  the  disasters 
of  the  Soudan  and  the  massacre  of  Gordon.     In 


GLADSTONE ^THE    ICONOCLAST.  29 Y 

each  of  his  earlier  administrations  Mr.  Gladstone 
so  mismanaged  his  foreign  relations  that  tiiej  un- 
doubtedly contributed  in  each  instance  to  his  down- 
fall. He  oflPended  unnecessarily  the  spirit  of  the 
English  nation,  humiliated  its  pride,  and  seemed,  at 
least,  to  ignore  its  interests. 

And  this  cannot  be  attributed  to  his  lieutenants. 
Though  he  had  at  the  head  of  his  foreign  depart- 
ment a  man  utterly  without  force  or  originality,  it 
was  not  Lord  Granville's  fault  that  the  tangle  was 
so  bad.  For  Gladstone  is  always  master  in  his  own 
cabinet.  He  controls  and  directs  absolutely.  His 
will  is  law\  He  dictates  the  general  policy  and  de- 
cides every  detail  of  importance,  and  his  subordi- 
nates must  yield  or  leave.  His  party  too  has 
followed,  as  well  as  his  cabinet.  No  man  has  more 
absolutely  swayed  the  nation  when  he  was  at  its 
head.  It  was  he  who  determined  on  Disestablish- 
ment in  Ireland,  and  Arbitration  wdtli  the  United 
States  ;  on  Peace  or  War  with  Kussia,  and  Africa, 
and  Egypt,  and  America.  It  is  he  who  made  the 
coalition  with  Parnell ;  it  is  he  who  decided  that 
Ireland  must  have  a  Parliament.  Not  Bismarck, 
not  the  first  Napoleon,  was  more  of  an  autocrat. 

His  ablest  subalterns  are  proud  to  serve  under 
him,  though  they  scowl  at  any  other  chief.  When, 
after  the  Liberal  defeat  in  1ST4,  he  retired  for  a 
while  from  the  leadership  of  the  party,  to  a  man 
they  besought  him   to  remain.     And  when,  upon 


298  ARISTOCRACY   IN    ENGLAND. 

his  refusal,  Lord  Hartington  for  a  while  was  allowed 
to  hold  the  reins,  Gladstone  was  still  a  disturbing 
element.  Whenever  for  a  night  he  appeared  in 
Parliament,  the  nominal  chief  at  once  went  into 
eclipse;  and  when  at  last  his  party  returned  to 
power,  the  country  would  hear  of  no  one  but  him 
for  Prime  Minister.  The  Queen  opposed  him,  but 
made  herself  and  her  weakness  ridiculous  by  the 
opposition. 

His  personal  popularity  is  prodigious ;  but,  like 
all  great  men,  he  provokes  the  most  violent  ani- 
mosities; not  only  among  those  who  know  him  in- 
dividually, but  in  the  country  at  large.  He  is  hated 
by  the  mass  of  the  aristocracy  with  a  bitterness 
almost  unexampled,  but  very  natural,  for  with  a 
true  instinct  they  feel  and  know  that  he  is  their 
greatest  foe.  Whether  he  means  or  wishes  it,  or  no, 
he  hurts  them  more  than  any  million  of  men  be- 
sides. He  once  said  of  them :  "  The  Lords  are  up 
in  a  balloon  ; "  elevated  above  the  ordinary  world, 
but  unable  to  observe  or  affect  the  course  of  affairs. 
Another  time  he  declared  that  he  should  think 
once,  he  should  think  twice,  he  should  think  three 
times  before  he  would  abolish  the  House  of  Lords ; 
but  if  the  third  occasion  passed,  he  did  not  say 
what  his  course  would  be.  And  these  were  the 
utterances  of  a  man  who  had  it  in  his  power  to  fulfil 
his  threats.  More  than  once  he  has  compelled  the 
Lords  to  do  his  bidding  by  the  menace  of  adding  to 


GLADSTONE THE   ICONOCLAST.  299 

their  number  or  lessening  tlieir  hereditary  privi- 
leges. When  they  obstinately  resisted  the  aboli- 
tion of  Purchase  in  the  Army — although  the  measure 
had  passed  the  House  of  Commons  and  was  unmis- 
takably approved  by  the  nation — Gladstone  revived 
a  disused  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  and  forced  the 
Queen  to  declare  Purchase  abolished  by  Poyal  "War- 
rant— a  weapon  that  had  not  been  resorted  to  for 
two  hundred  years.  He  strained  the  Constitution, 
but  he  conquered  the  Lords.  The  last  great  differ- 
ence between  him  and  them  was  upon  the  extension 
of  the  franchise.  Iji  this  instance  the  peers  yielded 
in  time ;  but  had  they  held  out,  he  would  undoubt- 
edly have  shaken  the  very  foundations  of  their 
position  as  legislators. 

This  sino-le  man  who  threatens  and  assails  one  of 
the  ancient  orders  of  the  State,  who  places  himself 
in  antagonism  with  an  entire  aristocracy,  who  forces 
a  still  powerful  class  to  abandon  its  privileges  and 
trample  on  its  prejudices,  is  of  course  the  object  of 
their  profoundest  antipathy.  But  not  only  the  aris- 
tocracy themselves ;  all  the  mass  of  their  followers, 
all  the  prejudiced  Tories  of  the  middle  and  lower 
class,  above  all  those  of  the  press  or  the  literary 
sort— detest  the  name  of  Gladstone.  To  compen- 
sate— about  two-thirds  of  the  English  nation  adore 
him.  No  one  in  England  in  my  time  could  evoke 
the  enthusiasm  that  followed  him. 

All  this  is  the  magic  of  genius  as  well  as  the 


300  AKISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

might  of  will ;  it  comes  from  the  combination  of 
intellect  and  character ;  the  belief  in  his  intention, 
the  knowledge  of  his  achievement,  the  sympathy 
with  his  effort,  the  magnetism  of  his  presence  and 
personality ;  the  authority  of  a  born  leader  of  men. 

Of  his  natural  gifts,  eloquence  is  perhaps  the 
most  easily  recognized.  His  oratory  is  fiery  and 
convincing  by  turns,  but  more  often  fascinating  and 
persuading.  His  lucidity  of  speech,  though  he  is  nei- 
ther terse  nor  often  epigrammatic,  is  so  wonderful 
that  he  is  famous  for  the  charm  he  flings  about  the 
most  abstruse  questions  of  finance.  His  long  in- 
volved sentences  never  weary,  are  never  obscure, 
and  always  lead  up  to  some  lofty  sentiment  that 
either  excites  the  imagination  or  touches  the  heart. 

Like  most  men  of  genius,  he  excites  a  personal 
fascination  that  is  irresistible.  His  conversation  is 
seductive  in  its  interest.  You  cannot  turn  away 
from  it.  He  holds  you,  like  the  Ancient  Mariner, 
till  he  tells  his  tale.  I  was  once  asked  to  meet  him 
at  dinner,  when  there  was  no  American  Minister  in 
England.  It  was  at  the  house  of  Lord  Halifax,  one 
of  his  colleagues  in  the  cabinet,  who  had  corre- 
sponded with  me  the  winter  before  while  I  had  a 
room  at  the  White  House ;  and  whose  letters  had 
been  avowedly  written  for  me  to  show  to  President 
Grant.  At  the  date  of  the  dinner  the  discussions  of 
the  Treaty  of  Washington  were  at  their  height,  and 
there  were  grave  doubts  of  the  success  of  the  nego- 


GLADSTONE — THE   ICONOCLAST.  301 

tiation.  Lord  Halifax  asked  me  to  meet  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, so  that  I  might  convey  his  opinions  direct  to 
the  President.  The  Prime  Minister  talked  half  an 
hour  with  me  alone  on  the  subject  of  the  Treaty,  and 
under  the  circumstances  he  naturally  wished  to  im- 
press me  very  fully  with  his  ideas.  I  saw  him,  there- 
fore, to  unusual  advantage,  and  was  never  more 
impressed  with  the  power  of  a  man  to  expound  and 
illustrate  and  enforce  his  views  by  conversation. 
Afterward  he  continued  the  talk  on  other  themes, 
and  discussed  the  difference  between  the  British 
and  the  American  constitutions,  the  permanency 
of  the  systems  and  institutions  of  both  countries, 
and  was  as  brilliant  and  as  fascinating  as  his  reputa- 
tion had  led  me  to  anticipate.  I  remember  his  say- 
ing that  the  American  constitution  was  the  most 
perfect  ever  written  by  man,  which  as  a  good  Eng- 
lishman he  could  admit ;  for  the  British  pride  them- 
selves on  the  fact  that  their  constitution  is  unwritten. 
But  he  thought  Americans  had  a  great  advantage  in 
elbow-room,  as  he  called  it;  and  that  our  institutions 
could  not  be  said  to  have  stood  their  severest  test 
till  the  United  States  became  as  crowded  as  England 
is  to-day. 

On  another  occasion,  some  years  later,  he  was 
good  enough  to  ask  me  to  breakfast.  It  was  on  the 
morning  of  a  day  when  there  was  to  be  a  great  de- 
bate, which  he  was  to  lead  ;  the  result  might  decide 
the  fate  of  a  momentous  measure,  and  either  retain 


302  ARISTOCEACT  IN   ENGLAND. 

him  in  power  or  overthrow  him.  He  had  at  table 
a  party  of  ten,  only  two  of  them  ladies,  and  one  of 
these  his  daughter.  Among  the  other  guests  were 
a  distinguished  divine;  an  ecclesiastical  architect, 
or  architectural  ecclesiastic,  I  forget  which  ;  the  Lib- 
eral son  of  a  duke ;  a  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  so  on.  We  sat  at  breakfast  an  hour  and 
a  half,  but  not  a  word  was  said  about  politics,  not  a 
reference  was  made  to  the  debate  in  the  evening. 
The  principal  subject  discussed  was  the  revision  of 
the  'New  Testament,  which  had  just  been  given  to 
the  world.  The  Prime  Minister  was  extremely  in- 
terested in  this  theme.  He  is  learned  in  his  Greek, 
as  every  one  knows,  and  quoted  the  original  text 
freely.  He  was  entirely  opposed  to  the  revision, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  older  version,  and  offered  to 
lay  five  pounds  that  it  would  never  be  authorized 
to  be  read  in  the  churches.  I  was  amused  to  hear 
him  offer  a  wager,  and  on  such  a  theme,  and  said 
so  to  his  daughter.  She  told  me  she  had  never 
known  him  make  a  bet  but  once  before,  and  that  was 
that  Disraeli  would  be  a  peer  before  himself. 

This  versatility  of  attention  displayed  at  such  a 
moment  was  characteristic  of  his  gen  his.  His  in- 
formation is  various  and  his  learning  catholic  as 
well  as  profoimd;  his  power  to  discuss  the  most 
different  themes  astounding.  When  he  was  for  a 
while  out  of  office,  and  nominally  in  retirement, 
the  activity  of  his  mind  was  incessant.     He  wrote 


GLADSTONE THE   ICONOCLAST.  303 

pamphlets  on  the  Yatican  decrees,  published  whole 
volumes  on  Homer  and  the  Youth  of  the  World 
{Juventus  Mimdi) ;  and  debated  artistic,  anti- 
quarian, ecclesiastical,  and  purely  literary  subjects 
in  half  the  periodicals  in  England.  He  was  a  lay 
reader  at  morning  prayer  in  the  parish  church  at 
Hawarden,  and  a  hewer  of  wood  in  the  park  imme- 
diately afterward ;  and  he  answered  himself  every 
post  card  that  anyone  chose  to  send  him.  Finally, 
came  his  wonderful  attack  on  the  Tory  foreign 
policy,  which  tumbled  Lord  Beaconsfield  headlong 
from  office  and  reputation,  and  indeed  terminated 
his  career. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  position  in  regard  to  the  Ameri- 
can rebellion  was  one  of  the  mistakes  of  his  life. 
He  has  had  the  courage  to  admit  the  mistake,  and 
the  magnanimity  to  seek  to  atone  for  it.  He 
thought  that  the  right  of  secession  was  implied, 
if  not  admitted,  in  the  American  constitution,  and 
like  most  Englishmen,  he  failed  to  see  the  reasons 
that  would  have  made  the  admission  of  that  right 
practically  impossible,  even  if  it  had  been  logically 
tenable.  Even  after  his  famous  apology  to  the 
American  people — ''Kin  Beyond  Sea" — I  heard 
him  declare  that  he  still  could  not  see  that  Jeffer- 
son Davis  was  wrono-.  This  is  what  I  should  call 
the  doctrinaire  side  of  his  mind,  which  disappears 
or  is  hidden  completely  in  his  practical  contests  in 
English  politics.     No  man  can  put  abstract  notions 


304  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

more  completely  aside  than  he,  or  so  envelop  them 
in  a  cloud  of  explanatory  comment  as  to  make  them 
invisible  and  innocuous  whenever  it  is  desirable  for 
his  purposes. 

He  is  indeed  a  curious  development  of  the  Eng- 
lish type;  a  strange  out-growth  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  root.  With  his  ardent  religious  faith  appar- 
ently never  disturbed  in  this  age  of  scientific  and 
intelligent  unbelief;  with  his  lofty  Christian  senti- 
ment, carried,  however,  more  often  into  foreign 
than  domestic  politics ;  with  the  extraordinary  in- 
directness of  his  mind  in  some  of  its  workings,  as 
manifested  in  the  Ewelme  and  Collier  affairs — he 
is  in  many  ways  as  un-English  a  representative  as  it 
is  possible  to  imagine.  Intellectually  I  have  some- 
times thought  hitn  more  like  an  American  or  a 
Frenchman.  Ilis  keen  penetration,  his  logical 
acuteness,  his  abstract  philosophy  remind  one  al- 
most of  Emerson  at  times,  while  in  profundity 
and  power  of  generalization,  he  is  not  unlike 
Montesquieu.  From  one  point  of  view  the  most 
transcendental  and  unpractical  of  statesmen;  yet 
when  he  descends  from  the  lofty  heights  where 
he  evolves  his  theories  of  arbitration  and  religion 
and  doing  good  to  one's  enemies — to  the  arena 
of  actual,  daily  politics,  no  one  is  shrewder,  more 
politic,  more  adroit;  no  one  sees  the  situation 
more  clearly,  and — far  more  important  and  rarer 
quality — no  one  is  readier  to  adapt  himself  to  the 


GLADSTONE — THE    ICONOCLAST.  305 

situation  that  he  perceives.  No  one  knows  liow  to 
hit  harder  or  parry  better,  or  understands  more 
exactly  the  strategy  of  important  crises,  and  the 
tactics  of  significant  details.  No  one  has  carried 
great  measures  through  greater  difficulties ;  against 
the  opposition  not  only  of  avowed  enemies,  but  of 
loyal  friends ;  against  the  influence  of  the  Queen, 
the  dislike  of  high  society,  the  rooted  prejudices 
often  of  the  English  people,  the  disapproval  occa- 
sionally of  the  best  and  soberest  minds. 

Yet  he  marches  on  in  a  career  of  successive 
triumphs.  He  defeats  the  heir  to  one  of  the  oldest 
dukedoms  in  his  family  borough  ;  he  forces  his  col- 
leagues to  the  support  of  measures  they  detest ;  he 
compels  the  acquiescence  of  the  court ;  he  arouses 
and  sometimes  justifies,  the  wildest  apprehensions 
of  his  enemies.  He  is  at  this  moment  the  most  im- 
portant and  imposing  figure  in  English  politics ;  the 
leader  in  the  army  of  progress  before  the  world ;  the 
champion  of  the  people  in  a  land  where  they  still 
need  one  ;  the  ally  of  a  down-trodden  sister  country, 
to  whom  he  holds  out  a  hand  to  assist  her  to  rise. 
High-minded  and  high-purposed;  with  his  faults, 
like  all  who  are  human,  but  battling  always  against 
wrong  or  in  favor  of  the  weak,  he  is  indeed  the 
modern  knight- errant,  with  even  a  Quixotic  dash 
of  romance  in  his  temperament ;  but  able  to  sup- 
port as  well  as  to  attack,  to  defend  as  well  as  to 
destroy.  This  veteran  of  nearly  seventy-seven, 
20 


306  ARISTOCRACY  IN    ENGLAND. 

dashing  against  his  enemies  with  the  vigor  of  youth, 
leading  the  common  people  of  England  whom  he 
has  raised  to  a  position  and  power  they  have  never 
known  till  now ;  urging  them  to  make  the  first  use 
of  that  power  to  undo  the  wrongs  of  centuries  in 
Ireland ;  offering  to  the  men  who  have  just  dealt 
hitn  the  severest  blow  the  justice  that  they  claim — 
this  man  may  not  extort  from  the  aristocrats  of 
Europe  the  approbation  he  deserves,  but  Americans 
and  democrats,  believers  in  the  people  and  friends 
of  the  people  everywhere,  cannot  but  recognize  in 
him  at  once  the  noblest  and  greatest  statesman  of 
his  time. 


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good  of  his  fellow-creatures." — Professor  Sedgwick,  Secretary  to  the 
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strongest  appeal.  The  reader  rises  from  its  perusal  with  tiie  feeling 
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?~  Any  of  the  foregoing  works  sent  6?/  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  j^rt 
of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


JUSTIN  McCARTHrS  HISTORIES. 


History  of  Our  Own  Times. 

A  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  from  the  Accession 
of  Queen  Victoria  to  the  General  Election  of  1880. 
By  Justin  McCarthy,  M.P.  In  Two  Volumes. 
4to, Paper,  20  cents  each;  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  25  each; 
Half  Calf,  $3  00  each. 

Will  unquestionably  maintain  a  liigb  place  in  literature.  It  is 
scarcely  an  anticipation  of  the  universal  verdict  on  these  pages  to 
describe  it  as  a  rare  achievement  of  literary  workmanship. — Daily 
News,  London. 

Short  History  of  Our  Own  Times. 

A  Short  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  from  the  Ac- 
cession of  Queen  Victoria  to  the  General  Election 
of  1880.  By  Justin  McCarthy,  M.P.  4to,  Pa- 
per, 25  cents;  12mo,  Cloth,  |1  50. 

McCarthy's  histories  are  even  more  charming  than  his  fiction. — 
N.  Y.  World. 

Brilliant  without  being  flashy,  easy  without  being  careless,  and  ac- 
curate without  being  dry.  As  readable  as  a  novel,  and  probably 
more  read  than  most  of  the  romances  of  the  day. — Daily  Mews, 
London. 

History  of  the  Four  Georges. 

A  History  of  the  Four  Georges.  By  Justin 
McCarthy,  M.P.  Vol.  I.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  25. 
(To  be  completed  in  Four  Volumes.) 

Bids  fair  to  be  one  of  the  most  delightful  and  popular  of  Mr. 
McCarthy's  works. — iV.  Y.  Telegram. 

Mr.  McCarthy's  new  historical  work  exhibits  the  excellent  qualities 
which  won  popularity  for  his  "History  of  Our  Own  Times."  His 
narrative  is  clear,  easy,  and  rapid.  His  personages  are  alive. — N.  Y. 
Tribune. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

f^  Any  of  the  above  works  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the 
United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


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